Department of Health and Social Care

Care Homes: Visits

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the clinical evidence used to create the latest version of the guidance on care home visiting, updated 24 February 2022.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Workers: Car Allowances

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure that health service employees including care workers, who are paid a mileage allowance, have the rate per mile increased.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Refugees

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what healthcare (a) support and (b) facilities his Department will provide to Ukrainian refugees who arrive in the UK.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Research

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on how much is spent annually on cancer research in the UK (a) through NCRI partners and (b) by all those that conduct cancer research.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows annual spending on cancer research in the United Kingdom through National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) partners between 2017/18 and 2019/20. Data for 2020/21 is not yet available.2017/18£682 million2018/19£687 million2019/20£669 million Data on research funded by all those that conduct cancer research is not held centrally. NCRI is a UK-wide partnership between research funders to maximise the value and benefits of cancer research for patients and the public. NCRI’s partners consist of over 20 organisations, including UK Research and Innovation; the Medical Research Council; Blood Cancer UK; Brain Tumour Research; Cancer Research UK; Breast Cancer Now; Cancer Research Wales; and the National Institute for Health Research. The full list of partners is available at the following link:https://www.ncri.org.uk/about-us/our-partners/

Hysteroscopy: Pain

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of fear of painful hysteroscopy has had on uptake of procedures.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. The National Health Service advises women to consult a clinician prior to the procedure to discuss any concerns and pain relief options, including a local or general anaesthetic. Women can also discuss the option of alternative treatment, such as a pelvic ultrasound. If a woman experiences pain during the hysteroscopy, she should alert the clinician who can halt the procedure at any time. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guideline also stresses the minimisation of pain during hysteroscopies.

Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his officials have had with NHS England about the meeting held on the 4 February 2022 with the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement’s National Speciality Adviser for Gynaecology met with representatives of the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and The Royal College of Anaesthetists. Officials have been advised that all attendees agreed that hysteroscopy is an effective way of assessing and treating abnormalities in the cavity of the uterus and it is essential women feel able and safe to have the procedure.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are consulting on a good practice paper ‘Pain relief and informed decision-making for outpatient hysteroscopy and procedures’. This paper makes clear that all doctors or nurses carrying out hysteroscopies must make sure women are listened to before, during and after their procedure.

Dental Services: Coronavirus

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 6 December 2021 to Question 85353 on Dental Services: Coronavirus, for what reason an assessment has not been made.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2021 to Question 85353 on Dental Services: Coronavirus, whether he plans to make an assessment of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of dental practices and dentists.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2021 to Question 85353 on Dental Services: Coronavirus, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the dental industry on the impact of covid-19 on dentists and dental practices.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to make this specific assessment as the provision of National Health Service dentistry continues to be routinely monitored by regional commissioners. We continue to have regular discussions with representatives of the dental sector on the impact of COVID-19 on dentists and dental practices. These discussions have informed the Government’s actions to support NHS dentists and dental practices, which has included financial and wellbeing resources. Private dentists have also received support through HM Treasury’s range of schemes.

Gynaecology: Pain

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy responds to the views of women who have experienced pain due to gynaecological examinations and procedures.

Maria Caulfield: On 23 December 2021, we published ‘Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England’ with the results of the call for evidence survey. The analysis of the call for evidence showed that women have often felt they were not listened to by healthcare professionals with regards to pain related to menstruation and other gynaecological conditions. The Department will be informed by the views of women as we develop the Strategy, which will be published in spring 2022.

Hepatitis: Pregnancy

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pregnant women living with Hepatitis C.

Maria Caulfield: Based on data from the from the sentinel surveillance of blood-borne virus testing in England, the Department estimates that approximately 1% of pregnant women have antibodies for hepatitis C (anti-HCV), a marker of hepatitis C infection. However, as no laboratory methods are currently available to distinguish definitively between acute or chronic hepatitis C infections, positive anti-HCV results do not necessarily represent current infections. A hepatitis C polymerase chain reaction test is required to identify a current infection.

Endometriosis and Polycystic ovary syndrome
: Research

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will undertake research to identify the causes of endometriosis and PCOS.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the research funding gap between endometriosis and PCOS and other health conditions.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to amend existing and future funding streams to encourage research into endometriosis and PCOS.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded or supported studies into endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). No specific assessment of the funding allocated to these conditions has been made. However, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including endometriosis and PCOS. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, the NIHR’s funding is available through open competition and we encourage researchers to submit applications in this area.

Genetic Engineering

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the number of cell and gene therapies expected to come to the UK market in the next 10 years and (b) the capacity and infrastructure requirements of advanced therapy treatment centres in (i) Nottingham and (ii) elsewhere in the UK to deliver those treatments.

Maria Caulfield: The Life Sciences Vision and the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy set out an ambition to accelerate the adoption and uptake of cell and gene therapies in the United Kingdom. The Accelerated Access Collaborative’s early stage programme includes advanced therapy medical products (ATMPs).As part of this programme, the National Institute for Health Research’s Innovation Observatory has undertaken horizon scanning over five years which has identified ATMPs until 2026. The United States Food and Drug Administration anticipates that by 2025, it will approve approximately 10 to 20 cell and gene therapy products per year, which is consistent with horizon scanning estimates provided to the National Health Service.There are a number of providers which already offer ATMPs in England. To date, no specific assessment has been made for treatment centres in Nottingham. As ATMPs advance in clinical development, NHS England and NHS Improvement will consider how these products could be incorporated into existing clinical pathways. This would include assessments of potential capacity and infrastructure requirements prior to formally commissioning the relevant ATMP service. The capacity and infrastructure requirements of providers to offer ATMPs will depend on the individual products they are commissioned to deliver. Capability to deliver ATMPs is also considered and takes into account expertise in treating the condition which the therapy is intended to treat.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to control the transmission of covid-19 in areas where NHS services are under pressure as a result of high levels of covid-19 resulting in increased hospital admissions or need for community care.

Maggie Throup: The Government has provided advice on measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. This aims to reduce the rates of infection and prevent increases in hospital admissions or the need for community care. The guidance include advice on vaccination, wearing face coverings, meeting people safely, getting tested if symptomatic and staying at home in the case of a positive test. The range of guidance is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the advice he has received from SAGE in relation to the announcement by the Prime Minister that the regulations on self-isolation, which expire on 24 March 2022, are expected not to be renewed beyond that date.

Maggie Throup: The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies did not provide specific advice in relation to this announcement. However, the Government regularly reviews a wide range of evidence to inform its decisions on the measures to address COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been recorded as having (a) PCR and (b) lateral flow tests for covid-19 in each of the last three months.

Maggie Throup: The following table shows number of people recorded as having polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19 in the last three months.November 20218,296,787December 202111,417,198January 20218,957,354 The following table shows the number of people recorded as having lateral flow device tests for COVID-19 in the last three months.November 20215,189,848December 20218,023,006January 20214,917,448

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the transmission rates of covid-19 in areas where there are a relatively higher levels of hospital admissions and bed occupation.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency has not made a specific assessment. The latest epidemiological and healthcare data remains under continuous review.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the evidential basis and data which support the move away from the guidance of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to use the list of people who are already eligible for a free flu vaccine to determine those who should be offered a covid-19 booster vaccine.

Maggie Throup: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) initially considered the use of flu clinical risk groups as a potential way to identify and prioritise individuals eligible for the COVID-19 booster programme in its interim advice of 30 June 2021. However, on 14 September 2021, the JCVI’s final advice recommended that the prioritisation of those eligible for the booster campaign should align with phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to ensure the most effective continuous protection. The Government accepted this advice.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to reduce infection rates of covid-19 in the context of recent levels of covid-19 hospital admissions.

Maggie Throup: The Government will retain surveillance to monitor the virus, understand its evolution and identify changes in its characteristics, to make informed decisions and respond appropriately and proportionately. The risk of potential rises in hospitalisations will be managed through routine public health interventions.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of continuing the provision of free covid-19 testing beyond 1 April 2022 in the context of the recent rise in covid-19 hospitalisations.

Maggie Throup: We will continue to make free testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be available in due course. We are monitoring case rates and hospitalisations and will keep these policies under review.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Coronavirus

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people who have received a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome will be included in future Government covid-19 guidance for people with neurological conditions.

Maggie Throup: There are no current plans to do so. However, we will continue to keep all public health guidance under review.On 25 February 2022, the Government issued updated guidance for those previously considered clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19For most people considered CEV, they are advised to follow general guidance to prevent the risk of infection, in addition to any further advice from their general practitioner or consultant.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the estimated cost of providing free lateral flow tests following the Government's lifting of general covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: We are currently undertaking an assessment of these costs.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures his Department plans to put in place to help protect clinically vulnerable people (a) under the strategy for living with covid-19 due to be announced on 21 February 2021 and (b) after the lifting of the requirement to self-isolate on 24 March 2022.

Maggie Throup: On 25 February 2022, updated public health advice was issued for people who were previously considered clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19 For most people who were CEV, they are advised to follow general guidance to prevent the risk of infection, in addition to any further advice from their general practitioner or consultant.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of using the community pharmacy sector to provide covid-19 vaccinations on an annual basis if required.

Maggie Throup: No such assessment has been made. At present, it is not known whether recurrent boosters will be required annually. However, we are aiming to deliver a sustainable vaccination service which does not displace other health and care services.

Care Homes: Visits

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals of the Rights for Residents campaign to strengthen the visitation rights of care home residents.

Gillian Keegan: We currently are considering options to ensure visits can take place in all circumstances, which includes legislative routes.

Care Homes: Quarantine

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is gathering evidence to assess the (a) physical and (b) mental health impact of isolation in care settings.

Gillian Keegan: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) provides advice to the Department on the risk of the spread of infection in care homes and on the risks of isolation on residents’ mental and physical wellbeing. In addition, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities monitors the impact of COVID-19 on the population’s mental health through its surveillance tracker. The Department and the UKHSA are reviewing the isolation rules and updated advice is due to be published in the adult social care infection prevention and control guidance by 1 April 2022.

England Infected Blood Support Scheme: Veterans

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has communicated the right to claim from the England Infected Blood Support scheme to veterans who were infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV in a British Military Hospital.

Maria Caulfield: There have been no specific communications. Information about the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS), including eligibility, is available on the NHS Business Service Authority’s website. The NHS Business Services Authority also works with a range of charities which support those infected with HIV or hepatitis C to signpost potential beneficiaries to the EIBSS. The ongoing Infected Blood Inquiry may also direct potential beneficiaries to the Scheme. Medical professionals within the National Health Service have also been made aware of the EIBSS to inform patients who may be eligible.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing ear wax irrigation services on the NHS, particularly for (a) patients who have a medical need for irrigation and (b) those who cannot afford private treatment.

Maria Caulfield: Local commissioners are responsible for arranging for the provision of medical services to meet the reasonable needs of their populations. Commissioners should ensure there is appropriate access to ear wax removal services, where these are clinically appropriate for patients.General practitioner practices are increasingly recommending self-care methods to support the safe removal of ear wax and to prevent its build up. However, if a practice considers removal clinically necessary, ear irrigation or microsuction should either be undertaken at the practice or the patient should be referred to an appropriate local NHS service.

Cancer: Health Services

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer patients have not been seen within (a) the eight main operational standards for cancer waiting times and (b) the three key timeframes in which patients should be seen or treated as part of their cancer pathway in (i) England, (ii) the North West, (iii) Lancashire and (iv) Preston in each of the last three years.

Maria Caulfield: The information is not held in the format requested.

Cancer: USA

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a report of the Bilateral Scientific Summit; and if he will provide additional resources to support the UK’s role in any new UK-US shared plan for action resulting from that Summit.

Maria Caulfield: The organising partners of the Summit are refining its initial recommendations and consulting with stakeholders including patients, policy makers, industry and academia. Once recommendations have been finalised, we will publish a full report and consider if additional resources will be required.

Motor Neurone Disease: Research

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy that £50m for targeted MND research will be awarded in full to the scientific programme set out in the submission by MND charities to the 2021 Spending Review.

Maria Caulfield: This funding can be accessed through applications to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The NIHR and UKRI rely on researchers submitting high-quality applications to access funding. All applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Pharmacy

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in workforce levels in the community pharmacy sector.

Maria Caulfield: Health Education England (HEE) conducted a community pharmacy workforce survey between May and June 2021. This indicated a 5% reduction in headcount compared with the last workforce survey in 2017, except for pharmacists and trained dispensing assistants which increased by 18% and 15% respectively. These estimates are based on responses from 47% of community pharmacies. HEE expects to repeat this data collection annually to inform future workforce planning and investment decisions.The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is responsible for maintaining a register of all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain. As of 31 January 2022, there were 85,742 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians on the GPhC’s register. The register shows an increase in both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians year on year.

Long Covid: Medical Treatments

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in England and Wales receiving therapeutic treatments on prescription for the long-term effects of covid-19; and how many of those people are aged between 18 and 60.

Maria Caulfield: No specific estimate has been made.

Pharmacy

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the sustainability of community pharmacy funding.

Maria Caulfield: The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) five-year deal from 2019 to 2024 commits £2.592 billion each year. Additional funding has been made available to community pharmacies for COVID-19 and flu vaccinations and the medicines delivery service and Pharmacy Collect. Negotiations with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee on what the sector will deliver in 2022/23 are ongoing.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of continuing to provide free covid-19 lateral flow tests for care home visitors.

Gillian Keegan: The regular free asymptomatic testing regimes after 1 April 2022 are currently under review, including for visitors to care homes. Further details on future adult social care testing provision and any changes to guidance will be provided in due course.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measure of inflation over what period of time was used by his Department to determine the increase in NHS prescription charges implemented on (a) 1 April 2019, (b) 1 April 2020 and (c) 1 April 2021.

Edward Argar: The Department used the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator as a measure of inflation, as forecasted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), to uplift prescription charges in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, an average GDP deflator of actual GDP deflator from 2020 and the forecasted GDP deflator for 2021 was used to counteract the effects of the pandemic.

Fluoride: Drinking Water

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made ofthe potential health risks of water fluoridation.

Maria Caulfield: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on the health of people living in the areas with water fluoridation. There is also a duty to publish a report of an analysis of those effects of water fluoridation on the health of people every four years. The last report, published in 2018, agreed with a number of authoritative reviews there is no convincing evidence that water fluoridation is harmful to health at the levels seen in water fluoridation schemes in the United Kingdom. The next report is due to be published later this year. Relevant new scientific literature will continue to be monitored.

Department for Work and Pensions

Adoption Allowance: Self-employed

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an adoption allowance for self-employed people that is the equivalent to those who are employees.

Guy Opperman: The Government has no plans to introduce an Adoption Allowance for self-employed people.Local Authorities can make discretionary payments to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining the state pension triple lock for the year 2022-23; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to applying the Triple Lock from 2023/24, for the remainder of Parliament. The decision in 2021 was by reason of statistical anomaly. In 2020 the Government raised State Pension by 2.5%. Parliament has voted for State Pensions to increase by the Consumer Price Index. This has been the case under successive governments of all Political Parties since the 1970s. From April, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be around £720 more in 2022/23 than if it had been up-rated by prices since 2010. That’s a rise of over £2,300 in cash terms.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to support Access to Work applicants facing delays in the processing of their application; and if she will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: Access to Work are currently receiving an increased level of applications for support and are working through all applications to ensure that they are progressed as soon as possible. For applications where a customer is due to begin a job in the next 4 weeks (whether employed or self-employed), and renewal applications for on-going support, their case will be prioritised and contact made as soon as possible. The Department is currently recruiting and training more people to work on Access to Work, as well the use of overtime working to support reducing the outstanding claim volumes.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will re-introduce the six-month extension of Access to Work grant awards for claimants who rely on support workers and are experiencing delays in the processing of their renewal applications.

Chloe Smith: In response to the increase in Access to Work applications, business processes have been regularly reviewed, including the Renewals process. As part of this, we will now treat applications that are classified as renewals for on-going support as a priority group. Although this is not an automatic extension of the award, the prioritisation of renewals will enable applications to be cleared more quickly. Where the decision is to put in place a new award, this will be put in place for the longest period appropriate (up to the current 3 year maximum) so that the customer has stability in terms of their award, rather than having to renew again in a very short timeline, as was the case with automatically extended awards.

Home Office

Refugees: Afghanistan

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the impact on Afghan refugees of residing in bridging hotels for more than six months under Operation Warm Welcome.

Tom Pursglove: e do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We have moved – or are in the process of moving - over 6,000 people into homes since June 2021. There is a huge effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels are given the best start to their life in the UK.The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on a number of factors including the number of offers of appropriate housing from local authorities. We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible.Where local authorities or employers are able to offer accommodation in greater volume and more quickly, this overall timescale will reduce. We would like to encourage local authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so.An assessment has not been undertaken of the impact on refugees of residing in bridging in hotels for more than six months. However, we have put in place numerous mechanisms to support families; this includes a contact centre, a DWP and Home Office Liaison Officer (HOLO) presence to support Universal Credit enrolment, lead job surgeries and reassurance for families, plus a funding package for provision of local authority wrap-around support services. Wherever possible bridging hotels in or near major conurbations have been sourced so that appropriate support and services can be more readily provided. We are providing full food and board to all guests, alongside 24/7 security presence on site.We will continue to work across government, with local authorities and the voluntary sector, to provide the best possible service to families whilst in bridging hotels. Local authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation.The Home Office regularly monitors the number of individuals in temporary accommodation, but at present there are no plans to publish figures while we continue to evacuate from the region. However, we publish data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data cover up to the end of December 2021. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The next publication will be in May 2022.

Refugees: Hotels

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from bridging hotels were resettled in each week in each of the last two months.

Tom Pursglove: e do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We have moved – or are in the process of moving - over 6,000 people into homes since June 2021. There is a huge effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels are given the best start to their life in the UK.The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on a number of factors including the number of offers of appropriate housing from local authorities. We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible.Where local authorities or employers are able to offer accommodation in greater volume and more quickly, this overall timescale will reduce. We would like to encourage local authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so.An assessment has not been undertaken of the impact on refugees of residing in bridging in hotels for more than six months. However, we have put in place numerous mechanisms to support families; this includes a contact centre, a DWP and Home Office Liaison Officer (HOLO) presence to support Universal Credit enrolment, lead job surgeries and reassurance for families, plus a funding package for provision of local authority wrap-around support services. Wherever possible bridging hotels in or near major conurbations have been sourced so that appropriate support and services can be more readily provided. We are providing full food and board to all guests, alongside 24/7 security presence on site.We will continue to work across government, with local authorities and the voluntary sector, to provide the best possible service to families whilst in bridging hotels. Local authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation.The Home Office regularly monitors the number of individuals in temporary accommodation, but at present there are no plans to publish figures while we continue to evacuate from the region. However, we publish data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data cover up to the end of December 2021. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The next publication will be in May 2022.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's criteria are for prioritising Afghan refugees for resettlement.

Tom Pursglove: e do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We have moved – or are in the process of moving - over 6,000 people into homes since June 2021. There is a huge effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels are given the best start to their life in the UK.The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on a number of factors including the number of offers of appropriate housing from local authorities. We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible.Where local authorities or employers are able to offer accommodation in greater volume and more quickly, this overall timescale will reduce. We would like to encourage local authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so.An assessment has not been undertaken of the impact on refugees of residing in bridging in hotels for more than six months. However, we have put in place numerous mechanisms to support families; this includes a contact centre, a DWP and Home Office Liaison Officer (HOLO) presence to support Universal Credit enrolment, lead job surgeries and reassurance for families, plus a funding package for provision of local authority wrap-around support services. Wherever possible bridging hotels in or near major conurbations have been sourced so that appropriate support and services can be more readily provided. We are providing full food and board to all guests, alongside 24/7 security presence on site.We will continue to work across government, with local authorities and the voluntary sector, to provide the best possible service to families whilst in bridging hotels. Local authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation.The Home Office regularly monitors the number of individuals in temporary accommodation, but at present there are no plans to publish figures while we continue to evacuate from the region. However, we publish data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data cover up to the end of December 2021. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The next publication will be in May 2022.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of being accommodated in bridging hotels based away from communities on the ability of Afghan refugees to settle.

Tom Pursglove: e do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We have moved – or are in the process of moving - over 6,000 people into homes since June 2021. There is a huge effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels are given the best start to their life in the UK.The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on a number of factors including the number of offers of appropriate housing from local authorities. We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible.Where local authorities or employers are able to offer accommodation in greater volume and more quickly, this overall timescale will reduce. We would like to encourage local authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so.An assessment has not been undertaken of the impact on refugees of residing in bridging in hotels for more than six months. However, we have put in place numerous mechanisms to support families; this includes a contact centre, a DWP and Home Office Liaison Officer (HOLO) presence to support Universal Credit enrolment, lead job surgeries and reassurance for families, plus a funding package for provision of local authority wrap-around support services. Wherever possible bridging hotels in or near major conurbations have been sourced so that appropriate support and services can be more readily provided. We are providing full food and board to all guests, alongside 24/7 security presence on site.We will continue to work across government, with local authorities and the voluntary sector, to provide the best possible service to families whilst in bridging hotels. Local authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation.The Home Office regularly monitors the number of individuals in temporary accommodation, but at present there are no plans to publish figures while we continue to evacuate from the region. However, we publish data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data cover up to the end of December 2021. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The next publication will be in May 2022.

Refugees: Hotels

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set a time limit for the period of time a refugee spends in a bridging hotel.

Tom Pursglove: e do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We have moved – or are in the process of moving - over 6,000 people into homes since June 2021. There is a huge effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels are given the best start to their life in the UK.The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on a number of factors including the number of offers of appropriate housing from local authorities. We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible.Where local authorities or employers are able to offer accommodation in greater volume and more quickly, this overall timescale will reduce. We would like to encourage local authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so.An assessment has not been undertaken of the impact on refugees of residing in bridging in hotels for more than six months. However, we have put in place numerous mechanisms to support families; this includes a contact centre, a DWP and Home Office Liaison Officer (HOLO) presence to support Universal Credit enrolment, lead job surgeries and reassurance for families, plus a funding package for provision of local authority wrap-around support services. Wherever possible bridging hotels in or near major conurbations have been sourced so that appropriate support and services can be more readily provided. We are providing full food and board to all guests, alongside 24/7 security presence on site.We will continue to work across government, with local authorities and the voluntary sector, to provide the best possible service to families whilst in bridging hotels. Local authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation.The Home Office regularly monitors the number of individuals in temporary accommodation, but at present there are no plans to publish figures while we continue to evacuate from the region. However, we publish data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data cover up to the end of December 2021. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The next publication will be in May 2022.

Subversion: Russia

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) prevent Russian interference in the UK political system by funding (i) UK political parties and party members and (ii) extremists in the UK.

Damian Hinds: There are rules in place to ensure that only those with a legitimate interest in UK elections can make political donations. All MPs and members of political parties are regulated donees and can only accept donations of more than £500 made to them in connection with their political activities if it is from a permissible donor. Donations from individuals not on the UK electoral register, such as foreign donors, are not allowed.In addition, Members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords must provide information on any financial or non-financial benefit which might reasonably be thought by others to influence their actions or words as Members of Parliament.However, we know that in very rare instances, malign actors disguise their links to foreign Governments. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect the UK against foreign interference. The Government has structures in place to identify foreign interference or any potential threats to democracy and, where necessary, take proportionate action to mitigate them.The Government remains committed to tackling Right-Wing Extremism and extremist fundraising. We continue to consider all emerging evidence and analysis of financing for extremist causes.As previously announced, the Home Office will be introducing new legislation to ensure our security services and law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to disrupt state threats as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Domestic Abuse: Victims

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to give support to victims of domestic abuse to help pay mortgage costs and legal fees following financial abuse in a relationship.

Rachel Maclean: Tackling domestic abuse is a Government priority and improving the response to economic abuse is integral to this. Under our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, economic abuse is now recognised in law as part of the statutory definition of domestic abuse - in recognition of the devasting impact in can have on victims’ lives.Soon we will also publish our Domestic Abuse Plan, which will seek to transform the whole of society’s response in order to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems in place needed to deliver these goals.It is vital that agencies and the financial sector are also able to effectively respond to economic abuse and support victims. In February 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published updated guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including specific reference to economic control and abuse when considering what can contribute to an individual’s vulnerability. Financial services should also refer to UK Finance’s updated Financial Abuse Code which aims to increase awareness of economic abuse and sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers.Victims of domestic abuse are eligible for legal aid to assist with legal fees, subject to a means and merits test. The government is carrying out a review of the means test for legal aid which will consider the experiences of victims of domestic abuse. The review will also look at the capital thresholds for victims, which will include considering how assets (including property) are assessed. We plan to publish the means test review shortly.In December 2020, we brought forward legislation to improve eligibility for civil legal aid. This removed the £100k cap on the amount of mortgage debt that can be deducted from the value of a person’s property in the means test. This means all mortgage debt will be deducted from the property’s value when assessing eligibility for civil legal aid.The Government also offers “Support for Mortgage Interest” (SMI) loans to homeowners in receipt of an income-related benefit to help prevent repossession. The Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol also makes clear that repossession must always be the last resort. As such, it is vital that homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgage or are worried about meeting payments, make early contact with their lender.In addition, we support and fund organisations that promote awareness of economic abuse, including Surviving Economic Abuse who have received £567,000 of funding between 2018-2022 to increase awareness of economic abuse and support victims.Furthermore, as part of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 the Government introduced a new legal duty on local authorities to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation including refuges, backed by £125 million of Government funding to ensure that these vital services are available to anyone who needs them, wherever they live.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Regional Planning and Development: Gloucestershire

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what investment support is available to companies in Gloucestershire under the levelling up agenda; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Leeds

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new roles have been created in Leeds for his Department’s civil servants since December 2019.

Eddie Hughes: Between December 2019 and February 2022, the number of roles based in our Leeds office increased from 44 to 78, a growth of 77%. The February 2022 figure includes roles which were already based in Leeds, existing roles which have relocated out of London since December 2019 and new roles which have been created since December 2019 and placed in Leeds. We do not hold a central and more detailed breakdown of the origin of each role in our offices.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Civil Servants

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many (a) civil servants and (b) civil servant roles have been relocated out of London since December 2019.

Eddie Hughes: (a) Information on the number of individual DLUHC civil servants who have relocated from our London office to an office outside London since December 2019 is not held centrally (b) Since December 2019 the total number of roles based outside London has increased from 512 to 1035, a growth of 102%.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Civil Servants

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many of his Department’s civil servants at Grade 6 or above are based in (a) Leeds and (b) London.

Eddie Hughes: As of 28 February 2022, 8 DLUHC staff at Grade 6 or above were based in (a) Leeds, with 406 based in (b) London.

Housing First

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has a planned timetable for the rollout of the Housing First programme in (a) general and (b) York.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to Housing First, which is why we provided £28 million for three sub-regional Housing First pilots. The latest manifesto committed to expanding Housing First and we will use evidence from the pilots, and their evaluation to inform next steps.The Spending Review committed over £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years, including through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, which invited areas to bid for funding to meet need in their areas, which can include Housing First and housing-led solutions.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Communication and Marketing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department has spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing since September 2021.

Eddie Hughes: Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.

Electoral Register: Disability

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the Elections Bill on barriers to independent voting for disabled people.

Kemi Badenoch: The intent of the accessibility measures in the Elections Bill is to widen the support provided to disabled voters and remove barriers to change and innovation. This is why we are removing the overly prescriptive requirement to provide a specific single device, and replacing it with a broader duty on Returning Officers to consider voters with all disabilities when providing equipment. It is most appropriate that the organisation of this additional support takes place at a local level to enable all disabled voters to have their individual needs and requirements met. This will strengthen the support for all voters with disabilities and improve the way this is delivered.Returning Officers will be supported in carrying out this new duty through enhanced Electoral Commission guidance which will be produced in partnership with the Government’s expert Accessibility of Elections Working Group and in collaboration with a multitude of disabled people’s organisations and charities representing disabled people.

Land Use

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to protect Grade 1 land from housing and solar developments to preserve land for the production of food; and what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on that matter.

Stuart Andrew: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land and that where significant development is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of higher quality. This requirement would apply to both housing and solar developments. The Framework is also clear that local authorities should encourage efficient use of land and acknowledges the importance of undeveloped land for food production.In the case of solar, guidance sets an expectation that large-scale solar farms are sites on previously developed and non-agricultural land, provided it is not of high environmental value. Where projects are proposed on greenfield sites, our guidance seeks to minimise the impacts and requires developers to justify the use of any such land. Our guidance also requires that projects are designed to avoid, mitigate and, where necessary, compensate for impacts on the best and most versatile agricultural land.These aspects of planning policy are devolved in Wales.

Holiday Accommodation: Refugees

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to use (a) Airbnb and (b) other short-term holiday lets for the purpose of homing refugees until they are settled elsewhere or able to return home.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the ways in which (a) disused care homes and (b) other public buildings can be repurposed to support refugees coming to the UK.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to have discussions with developers on purposing properties for use by refugees.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to relax planning requirements to facilitate the construction of temporary housing for Ukrainian refugees; and if he will make a statement.

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Government's Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, whether the universal credit payments of people who provide accommodation to refugees will be affected by receiving a thank you payment under that scheme.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, what safeguards he is putting in place to ensure that Ukrainian refugees are placed in homes that are (a) safe and (b) in a position to provide the necessary care and support.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in ensuring that Ukrainian refuges have access (a) schools, (b) public health, (c) trauma counselling and (d) other public services.

Eddie Hughes: I refer the Hon Member to the Secretary of State's Oral Statement to Parliament of 14 March 2022.

Council Tax: Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, whether individuals currently claiming the Single Person discount on council tax will remain eligible for this discount if they provide accommodation through that scheme.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is clear that the entitlement to the council tax single person discount should not be impacted by an individual’s participation in the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

Conor Burns: Whilst the Department has not implemented a specific training programme to provide staff with skills to support its transition to net zero, the new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for the government. In the first phase, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU) is working with other Departments (including BEIS, DEFRA and FCDO) to create an awareness level training resource for all civil servants. This will be piloted from April 2022. In the next phases, GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific Functions and Professions, and will signpost the training and other resources on Net Zero, which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by government Departments.

Treasury

Biofuels: Excise Duties

Ian Mearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to postpone the proposed changes to red diesel and rebated biofuel due to come into effect on 1 April 2022.

Ian Mearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the impact of changes to the entitlement to use red diesel from 1 April 2022 on the construction sector in the context of rising fuel prices.

Helen Whately: The Government announced at Budget 2020 that it would be removing the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors and has legislated for this change to be implemented from April 2022. The Government has given affected businesses a year to prepare for the changes since they were confirmed at Spring Budget 2021, and many fuel suppliers and businesses will have already taken the steps needed to prepare. These are important long-term reforms which will ensure most businesses currently using red diesel pay the same amount of tax as ordinary motorists, which more fairly reflects the harmful emissions produced. These reforms are also designed to incentivise the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies, and improvements in the energy efficiency of vehicles and machinery. The Government recognised that this would be a significant change for some businesses and ran a consultation to gather information from affected users on the expected impact of these tax changes and make sure it had not overlooked any exceptional reasons why affected sectors should be allowed to continue to use red diesel beyond April 2022. Following the consultation, the Chancellor announced at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will grant further entitlements to use red diesel after April 2022 for a limited number of users. However, having assessed the cases made by other sectors to retain their red diesel entitlement, including the construction sector, the Government did not believe that they were compelling enough to outweigh the objectives of these reforms.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason VAT treatment differs for residential off-street electric vehicle charging and public charging.

Lucy Frazer: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. This includes electricity supplied at electric vehicle charging points in public places However, in order to keep costs down for families, all domestic fuel and power, including the supply of electricity for domestic use, attracts the reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent). The reduced rate therefore also applies to charging electric vehicles at home. Expanding the existing relief would come at a cost. VAT makes a significant contribution towards the public finances, raising around £130 billion in 2019-20, and helps fund the Government's priorities including the NHS, schools, and defence. Any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing, or increased taxation elsewhere. The Government has no plans to review the VAT treatment on electric vehicle charging.

Housing: Building Alterations

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of the 28 January 2022 to Question 110444 and 13 January 2022 to Question 103583 on on Housing: Building Alterations, what analysis his Department has conducted of VAT relief requests to determine the around £50 billion figure for all VAT reliefs requested following the EU Referendum.

Lucy Frazer: HM Treasury, alongside HMRC, has modelled the cost implications of relief requests from VAT received since the EU referendum. These are then combined, excluding any duplicates, to produce the total figure for VAT relief requests. Any new VAT reliefs would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. VAT raised around £130 billion in the year 2019-20 and helps to fund key spending priorities. Any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing.

Exports: North West Norfolk

James Wild: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of companies in North West Norfolk that are exporting to other countries.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly as National Statistics called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics and quarterly as the Regional Trade in Goods Statistics (RTS). Both are available via their dedicated website: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/. HMRC also publishes an annual disaggregation of the RTS by smaller geographical areas. An estimate of exporter business counts for North and West Norfolk (as determined by the UK’s International Territorial Level ITL3) for trade in 2020, which is the latest available year, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/regional-trade-in-goods-statistics-disaggregated-by-smaller-geographical-areas-2020. The ‘Notes’ section at the beginning of this statistical publication should be read in full to understand the methodology, scope, and limitations of any statistics used.

Agency Workers: Income Tax

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the obligations on employment agencies and umbrella companies under Schedule 44, Section 2 of The Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

Lucy Frazer: Most agency workers must be treated as employees for Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) purposes by the agencies that pay them. These agencies are required to make deductions of Income Tax and employee NICs, where these are due, from the workers’ pay in the same way and at the same level as with direct employees. The agencies will also be liable to pay employer NICs, where these are due, in respect of payments to the workers. The rules for agencies do not apply to umbrella companies, which engage workers under a contract of employment. Like all employers, umbrella companies are responsible for making deductions of Income Tax and employee NICs from their employees’ pay and for paying employer NICs where they are due.

Tax Avoidance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total amount of revenue that will be raised by the loan charge.

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what legal advice his Department received that supports HMRC pursuing employees not employers for the use of loan schemes.

Lucy Frazer: The Loan Charge was announced at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to tackle Disguised Remuneration (DR) tax avoidance. The forecast was last revised at Spring Budget 2021. There was an estimated overall Exchequer yield of £3.3 billion for the entire package, including the Loan Charge. In September 2019, the Government commissioned an Independent Review into the Loan Charge which was led by Lord Morse. The Government accepted 19 of the 20 recommendations made by the review. Changes to the Loan Charge were estimated to reduce the forecast yield. At Budget 2020, the changes were costed as a separate measure, with an estimated reduction to the Exchequer yield of £745 million. HMRC will go to the employer to settle the tax due or collect the Loan Charge in the first instance. Approximately 80 per cent of the £3.3 billion HMRC brought into charge through DR settlements between Budget 2016 and the end of March 2021 was from employers. However, HMRC will consider other options to collect the tax when collection from the employer is not possible, such as when the employer no longer exists or is based offshore. Liability for the tax is always that of the individual, and the requirement for an employer to account for PAYE does not supersede or remove this liability. Parliament has provided a range of powers allowing HMRC, in certain circumstances, to collect the amount due from the employee.

Inflation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help lower the rate of inflation.

John Glen: As the global economy recovers from COVID-19, many economies are experiencing high inflation, in part due to pressures from rising energy prices and disruptions to global supply chains. The economic impact from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is uncertain but is adding to inflationary pressure. The Government is working with international partners to tackle global supply chain disruption and is providing support worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next that will help families with the cost of living. This includes a £9.1 billion package announced in February 2022 to help households with rising energy bills. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, which has the primary objective of maintaining price stability. Since the MPC has become responsible for controlling inflation it has averaged close to the 2% target. The Government’s commitment to price stability remains absolute.

Sanctions: Russia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the 2018 Sanctions Act on the Government's ability to sanction individuals implicated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

John Glen: The UK has used the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) to implement the strongest set of economic sanctions ever imposed against a major economy. These include new financial powers to limit access for Russian individuals and entities to international finance and exclude them from the UK financial system. Using SAMLA powers via the Russia sanctions regime, the UK has designated key Russian individuals and entities since the start of the crisis, including Roman Abramovich, Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov. These individuals and entities now have their assets frozen and no British citizen or business can make funds or economic resources available to them.  The UK is legislating for new powers under the Economic Crime Bill to further streamline SAMLA and speed up sanctions against individuals, allowing us to go even further in our action against individuals associated with the Russian regime. The new legislation will speed up processes by allowing the UK to quickly match sanctions imposed by our allies such as the United States, Canada and the EU It will also ensure the Government can designate groups of individuals to give the Government maximum flexibility.

National Insurance Contributions

Paula Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of employers with an annual Class 1 National Insurance liability greater than £91,699 and less than £100,000 in the latest tax year for which data are available.

John Glen: For tax year 2020 to 2021, we estimate there are 4,800 employers with Class 1 National Insurance liabilities greater than £91,699 and less than £100,000. This represents around 0.5% of those who benefitted from the Employment Allowance in the 2020 to 2021 tax year.

Financial Services: Regulation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review: Proposals for Reform, what assessment he has made of the impact of introducing a secondary objective of competitiveness for regulators on the stability of the financial system.

John Glen: The government intends to provide for a greater focus on growth and international competitiveness through the introduction of new secondary objectives for the PRA and the FCA.As the regulators take on additional responsibilities for determining the rules that financial services firms must follow, it is right that their objectives reflect the importance of the financial services sector as an engine of growth for the wider economy, and the need to support the future of the UK as a global financial centre.  These new secondary objectives will complement the regulators’ existing objectives of ensuring that UK firms remain safe and sound, that the UK’s markets function well, that there is effective competition in the interests of consumers, and that consumers of financial services receive an appropriate degree of protection. The government has always been clear that the UK will remain a global leader in promoting high international standards, while ensuring that the financial services sector is delivering for businesses and consumers across the UK.

Financial Conduct Authority: Sustainable Development

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Future Regulatory Framework Review, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a new sustainability-related statutory objective for the Financial Conduct Authority related to the UK’s net zero targets.

John Glen: The government is committed to achieving a net zero economy by 2050, and the UK’s approach to embedding climate considerations within the actions of its financial services regulators is already world leading. The Future Regulatory Framework Review provides the opportunity to further strengthen the UK’s regulatory regime by embedding climate change within the regulatory principles, which the regulators must take into account when discharging their functions. This demonstrates the government’s long-term commitment to transform the economy and meet the obligation set out in section 1 of the Climate Change Act 2008. This will ensure that the regulators must have regard to the net zero target considerations when discharging their functions.

Debts: Ukraine

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he (a) plans to cancel Ukraine's outstanding debts owed to the UK and (b) has had discussions with G7 finance ministers on a coordinated response to cancel Ukraine's debt obligations.

John Glen: The Chancellor continues to engage with G7 partners and International Financial Institutions on progressing current and future support to Ukraine. This includes a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held on 1 March with the Ukrainian Finance Minister. Alongside our allies, we’ve hit Russia with the most severe package of sanctions it has ever seen and our economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine now totals around £400 million. This includes USD$100 million of funding to Ukraine through the World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund and that we stand ready to provide USD$500 million in loan guarantees to support Multilateral Development Bank lending. This support has also enabled a package to be agreed on 8 March of over $700m for direct fiscal support to Ukraine via the World Bank, to help mitigate direct economic impacts.

Credit

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment the Government has made of the prevalence of the use of buy now pay later products to purchase (a) toiletries, (b) food and (c) other essential items.

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of increasing living costs on the number of people using buy now pay later services.

John Glen: HM Treasury regularly monitors changes in the consumer credit market, including the impact of economic developments, as part of its normal process of policy development. However, it does not hold information regarding the impact of increasing living costs on the number of people using Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL), or the prevalence of the use of BNPL products to purchase essential items. Instead, HMT draws on the research of various stakeholders, including consumer groups and the wider financial services industry, to inform policy development. The Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market found several potential risks of consumer detriment from interest-free BNPL products. The Government recognises those risks, but also notes that as an interest-free product, BNPL can often be lower-risk than other forms of borrowing and a useful tool to help consumers manage their finances. That is why on 2 February 2021, the Government announced its intention to regulate BNPL products in a proportionate manner. The Government published a consultation on policy proposals for the regulation of BNPL on 21 October 2021, which closed on 6 January 2022. The Government is now reviewing responses to this consultation and considering next steps and intends to publish a consultation response in the spring.

Domicil: Jersey

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with counterparts in Jersey regarding the granting of 21E high-net-worth individual residency rights to Russian nationals.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials engage regularly with their counterparts from the Crown Dependencies, including Jersey, across the Department’s interests. 21E high-net-worth individual residency rights for Russian nationals have not featured in recent engagement. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the UK but are self-governing dependencies of the Crown. This means they have their own directly elected legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and their own courts of law.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to introduce a limited fuel duty rebate of 15 pence per litre for essential users.

Helen Whately: In recognition of high prices at the pump and the fact that fuel represents a major cost for households and businesses, the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget 2021 that fuel duty would remain frozen for a twelfth consecutive year. A freeze already represents a cut in real terms, providing savings for consumers worth almost £8 billion over the next five years. All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Digital Markets Unit

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to bring forward primary legislative proposals for the relevant statutory framework for the Digital Markets Unit during 2022.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his timetable is for bringing forward the necessary legislation to grant the Digital Markets Unit powers required to tackle competition issues posed by tech giants.

Chris Philp: The Government consulted on our proposed approach to a new pro-competition regime, overseen by the Digital Markets Unit, last year. The consultation closed in October, and we are carefully considering the responses. We will set out the final design of the regime in our response in due course, and will introduce legislation to put the Digital Markets Unit on a statutory footing as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

Julia Lopez: DCMS is committed to the 2050 net zero target and is developing a capability training programme for our staff that will ensure we have the skills required to support the transition.As part of this we are in contact with the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit (GSCU) who are developing a cross Whitehall training programme focused on climate capability. The new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for the government.We expect the first phase of this training to be piloted from April 2022 followed by a second phase where the GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific functions and professions, and will signpost the training and other resources on Net Zero which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by government Departments.We will ensure that any staff requiring these skills at DCMS are enrolled on this training.

Building Digital UK

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the work of Building Digital UK in making subsidies available to the five or 10 per cent of properties that will not receive a commercial build as per its initial outside-in approach.

Julia Lopez: Over 97 per cent of UK premises now have access to superfast broadband with speeds of more than 30Mbps as a result of commercial delivery and coverage provided through the Government’s Superfast Broadband Programme. The most recent evaluation of this programme can be seen here.Gigabit broadband coverage has increased from 6 per cent to 66 per cent of premises over the last three years. Through Project Gigabit, the Government aims to ensure at least 85 per cent of premises have gigabit coverage by 2025, with near-universal coverage being achieved as soon as possible thereafter. Over 600,000 premises which previously had sub-superfast speeds or which are outside the scope of commercial plans have already received gigabit coverage as a result of programmes managed by Building Digital UK. The Government’s most recent update on its further delivery plans for Project Gigabit is set out in the Project Gigabit Winter Update. Further reports on progress with delivery will be published quarterly. Building Digital UK will also publish results of evaluations of Project Gigabit as these become available.

Broadband: Optical Fibres

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to get a full-fibre connection to every property in the UK and set a new, evidence-based, target for when that will be achieved.

Julia Lopez: The Government has set an ambitious target for at least 85% of premises in the UK to have access to gigabit-capable networks by 2025, and we will continue to seek to accelerate roll-out further to get as close to 100% as possible by this date. In addition, the connectivity mission in the recent Levelling-Up White Paper sets out our aim to deliver nationwide gigabit coverage (at least 99% of premises) by 2030.The cost of connecting a small number of premises, approximately 0.3% or c.100,000 premises, to gigabit-capable technologies is likely to be prohibitively expensive. For these very hardest to reach premises we are exploring all possible options to improve their broadband connectivity.

Broadband: Optical Fibres

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of starting an information campaign to make landlords aware of the critical role they play in the provision of the UK's communication network to full fibre.

Julia Lopez: I agree that landlords play a critical role in enabling everyone in the country to have access to full fibre broadband.If landlords are not prepared to grant access to operators who wish to install full fibre broadband in their buildings, this could create a digital divide which this government is keen to avoid. We need to make sure all landowners are properly informed, not only of the benefits of greater connectivity, but also their rights under the Electronic Communications Code.My officials hold monthly workshops with a range of stakeholders in this sector, including those representing landowner interests. These workshops are aimed at encouraging greater cooperation between landowners and telecoms operators.One outcome of these workshops may be the creation of a sector wide body for Electronic Communications Code matters, encompassing both landowner and operator interests, which is a development that I would welcome. This body may not just represent all stakeholder interests, but also educate them on how they can assist with the expansion and improvement of existing digital networks.This Government has also introduced measures in the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act to assist both operators and tenants where a landlord is unresponsive to repeated requests for access to install equipment in blocks of flats. The implementing regulations will be laid before Parliament when Parliamentary time allows.

Telecommunications

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department is making with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the potential merits of introducing a voucher scheme for small landlords to deal with the costs associated with processing a wayleave.

Julia Lopez: Small landlords are already able to recover the costs of processing a wayleave. Wayleaves fall within the scope of the Electronic Communications Code, which makes provision for landowners to receive compensation from telecoms operators for any loss they incur due to entering into a wayleave or any other access agreement.The costs should therefore be met by the operator seeking the wayleave and the government has no plans at this stage to introduce or fund a voucher scheme for these purposes.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Sustainable Development

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether a senior manager in her Department has been given the portfolio for leading on departmental sustainability.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to making its estate and operations more sustainable and resilient, through the Greening Government Commitments. We report on these commitments every quarter. In DCMS, the Director General for Strategy and Operations is responsible for this work.

Television: Children

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 131312, on Television: Children, for what reason the Young Audience’s Content Fund closed before its final evaluation had been undertaken.

Julia Lopez: The pilot Young Audiences Content Fund was allocated Licence Fee underspend to test a new way of financing public service TV content for a three-year period. This three-year period will conclude on 31 March 2022 and then a full evaluation will take place to determine its impact on the children’s television industry and the provision and plurality of public service content for young audiences across the UK.The potential for any further investment of public funding will be assessed against the Fund evaluation and alongside future public service broadcasting needs.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Companies House: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Companies House has plans to increase the number of full-time equivalent staff it employs in 2022 to work solely on investigating the accuracy of company returns and suspicious entries.

Paul Scully: Budgets for 2022/23 have yet to be finalised. However, Companies House is being provided with £63m over the Spending Review period in order to complete its transformation programme. It is expected that as part of this, Companies House will take a much more active role in interrogating entries on the register, and that the number of staff engaged in these activities will increase.

Energy: Fees and Charges

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to monitor above inflation increases in standing charges by energy companies; and what assessment he has made of (a) the reasons for increasing those charges above the rate of inflation and (b) the impact on (i) consumers and (ii) energy companies.

Greg Hands: The setting of energy tariffs including the standing charge is a commercial matter for individual suppliers. The standing charge is a daily flat rate passed on to consumers which covers the costs energy suppliers incur to provide a live supply to each household. It includes charges from network companies for using pipes and power lines to carry gas and electricity supplies, the maintenance and installation of meters and billing and accounting. A small proportion of the standing charge also goes towards Government initiatives that help vulnerable households and reduce emissions. For millions of households the level of the standing charge is protected by the energy price cap rate set by Ofgem. The energy unit rate and the standing charge together for a supplier’s default and standard variable tariffs must not exceed the level of the price cap. For consumers looking for a new fixed deal for the energy, suppliers can offer a range of tariffs including some with a low or even a zero standing charge and a higher energy unit rate to attract low energy users.

Liquefied Natural Gas: Contracts

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help put in place long-term liquified natural gas contracts with counterparties including Qatar and the United States to secure security of supply.

Greg Hands: Energy security is an absolute priority for this Government. The Government has highly diverse and flexible sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix, which ensure that households, businesses and heavy industry get the energy they need. Despite the high prices, the market continues to balance supply and demand. The Government already receives regular shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, and other LNG suppliers, as part of existing commercial arrangements between buyers and sellers. The Government has regular discussions with key energy partners around the world ahead of winter and to discuss the global transition to clean energy.

Companies House: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many full-time equivalent staff there are employed at Companies House who work solely on investigating the accuracy of company returns and suspicious entries.

Paul Scully: The Registrar of Companies has no current powers to verify or investigate information properly delivered in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 or other enactments. Whilst there is no single role that looks purely at the accuracy of company returns and suspicious entries, Companies House have 90 full time equivalents working in their Integrity and Intelligence Team.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Russia: Sanctions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason she had not applied sanctions to the 14 Russian businesspeople and family associates placed on the European Union's sanctions list on 9 March 2022, including Andrey Melnichenko, Andrei Guryev, Dmitry Pumpyansky and Vadim Moshkovich, as of 10 March 2022.

James Cleverly: We have now sanctioned over 1000 Russian individuals and entities, 51 leading oligarchs including Andrey Melnichenko, Andrei Guryev, Dmitry Pumpyansky and Vadim Moshkovich with a combined wealth in excess of £100 billion. This was made possible by the passing of the Economic Crime Act on 15 March, which is enabling us to crack down harder and faster on dirty money and those who support Putin. We, with our allies and partners, impose the most punishing sanctions to inflict maximum and lasting pain on Russia.We will continue to isolate Putin's regime and all those close to him, who are responsible for this appalling attack on Ukraine. We will not rest until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is restored. These sanctions send a clear message that nothing and no one is off the table.

Russia: China

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of reports of requests from Russia for Chinese military assistance; and whether she has raised that matter with her Chinese counterpart.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary spoke with her Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, on Friday 25 February. In the call, the Foreign Secretary underlined that the UK expects China to stand up for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and urged China to uphold its commitment to the UN Charter. The world is watching to see whether China's actions contribute to peace and stability, or to fuelling aggression.

Refugees: Ukraine

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who sought asylum and refuge in Ukraine are receiving support and assistance to relocate, including those who were recently evacuated from Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: The UK has now pledged £220 million for humanitarian assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs and support the international humanitarian response to the crisis in Ukraine and the region. We have deployed a team of humanitarian experts to the region to provide logistics advice and analysis of the evolving refugee situation and needs. We are also providing financial and technical assistance to partners on the ground, to ensure they are prepared to support those in Ukraine who may need it most.

Russia: Sanctions

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she will take to ensure that Russian Oligarchs are unable to exploit loopholes in sanctions imposed on that group by the Government.

James Cleverly: The new dedicated 'Kleptocracy Cell' in the National Crime Agency (NCA) will target criminal sanctions evasion and corrupt assets hidden in the UK. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works extremely closely with the NCA, and this includes close cooperation on sanctions breaches.  The vast majority of the designations made on 15 March were made possible under new powers in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act. This has given the Government the ability to immediately designate individuals and entities under an urgent procedure, while evidence is gathered to sanction them under standard processes.

Ukraine: Fire and Rescue Services

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 136706 on Ukraine: Fire and Rescue Services, for what reason that Answer did not include reference to the funding made available to UK fire fighting manufacturers and services to produce and send fire fighting equipment to Ukraine; and what recent discussion the Government has had with Fire Aid on that matter.

James Cleverly: The Government is supporting Fire Aid's deployment of donated items of kit and equipment from fire services across the UK to be sent to Ukraine, to support firefighters on the frontline.  These donations include 18 fire engines, thermal imaging cameras for finding victims, generators, lighting, hoses, rescue equipment, and thousands of sets of personal protective equipment. A convoy of 22 vehicles and two lorries of equipment is scheduled to depart the UK on 19 March.

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of reports of property seizures of people belonging to the Bahai' community in Iran; and if she will make a statement.

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on the reported operations of the Iranian para-statal institution entitled Execution of the Imam Khomeini’s Order; and if she will make an assessment of that Order's potential role in expropriation of the assets of Iranian religious minorities, including the Baha’is; and if she will make a statement.

James Cleverly: Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Addressing reports of expropriation and repossession of land owned by Baha'i communities in Ivel remains important to HMG. The Baha'i community in Iran continue to be systematically discriminated against, harassed, and targeted.We repeatedly raise human rights issues with the Iranian Government at all appropriate opportunities and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record. In November 2021, we co-sponsored the annual UN Third Committee resolution on human rights in Iran which called on the Government of Iran to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious or belief group.

Ukraine: Debts

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of cancelling Ukraine's national debt.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary has reiterated the UK's commitment in standing ready to guarantee up to £381 million in loans to support Ukraine and mitigate the economic effects of Russian aggression. The UK stands ready to offer guarantees of Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) lending for projects that will support economic stability and vital reforms such as tackling Anti-Corruption. This support will help mitigate economic impacts on Ukraine's economy due to Russia's aggression. The UK has pledged £174 million in aid to support Ukraine's economy. This includes $100 million (£74 million), announced on 7 March, for the Ukrainian Government budget and the £100 million three-year package to support Ukraine's energy security and reform.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement by the Government on 7 March 2022 that the UK will provide an additional £174 million to Ukraine, including £100 million of humanitarian aid and a £74 million donation to the Ukrainian Government, if she will provide a breakdown of what that funding comprises; what proportion of that funding will be counted as Official Development Assistance (ODA); how much of that funding has been disbursed as of 14 March 2022; and what the timetable is for disbursing the remaining funding.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's announcement on 27 February 2022 that the UK will provide £40 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, if she will provide a breakdown of how much of that funding has been disbursed as of 14 March 2022; what the timetable is for disbursing that funding; whether that humanitarian aid will be delivered to (a) Ukraine or (b) the borders of that country to support refugees; whether that funding will be counted (i) as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and (ii) in addition to the 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) target for the relevant financial years.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's announcement on 1 March 2022 that the UK will provide £80 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, if she will provide a breakdown of how much of that funding has been disbursed as of 14 March 2022; what the timetable is for disbursing that funding; whether that humanitarian aid will be delivered to (a) Ukraine or (b) the borders of that country to support refugees; whether that funding will be counted as (i) Official Development Assistance (ODA) and (ii) in addition to the 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) target for the relevant financial years.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement on 17 February 2022 of a £100m three-year energy independence programme in Ukraine, how much of that funding has been disbursed as of 14 March 2022; what the timetable is for disbursement; when the programme is expected to commence; and whether that funding will be counted (a) as Official Development Assistance and (b) in addition to the 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income target for the relevant financial year(s).

James Cleverly: The UK has now pledged £220 million of ODA (counted as part of the 0.5% Gross National Income) for humanitarian assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs and support the international humanitarian response to the crisis in Ukraine and the region.So far this financial year we have disbursed funding to humanitarian agencies in Ukraine; committed £25 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal through the UK Aid match scheme, which has now raised over £150 million; and provided non-food items including medical supplies, to support immediate humanitarian needs. We have deployed a 13 person field team of humanitarian experts to the region to provide logistics advice and analysis of the evolving refugee situation and needs. This analysis will inform further humanitarian funding disbursements in this financial year and next.

Ukraine: Refugees

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the passage of refugees fleeing Ukraine.

James Cleverly: The UK has now pledged £220 million of humanitarian assistance to support a well-coordinated and well-funded response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the region. UK assistance has enabled a 14-person UK field team of humanitarian experts to deploy to Poland, Moldova and Romania to provide logistics advice and analyse the evolving refugee situation. The FCDO has also deployed a UK Medical Health Assessment Team to Romania and Moldova to assess options for rapidly deploying UK Emergency Medical Team capabilities in response to the crisis in Ukraine. We have provided over 760,000 UK medical items to Ukraine and 9,000 to Moldova. The UK committed £25 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Appeal, which (including the UK's contribution) has now raised over £174 million.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Iranian counterparts on recommencing the 2015 nuclear deal between that country and other international counterparts.

James Cleverly: In a recent call with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Secretary stressed the urgency to conclude the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) deal and make clear that there would not be a better deal on offer. The deal would provide a fair and comprehensive offer of US sanctions-lifting for the benefit of the Iranian people. In exchange, Iran would reverse its nuclear escalation, return its nuclear programme to strict JCPoA limits and restore extensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Russia: Sanctions

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the sanctions announced on 9 March 2022 jointly by her Department and the Department of Transport will apply to all aviation companies identified as Russian owned, together with their subsidiaries, whether or not those companies are based within Russia; whether a consolidated list of such companies and their subsidiaries has been (a) compiled and (b) circulated to relevant departments with responsibility for applying such sanctions; whether all merchant vessels (i) owned by and (ii) leased to Russians, or (iii) flagged to other countries but carrying Russian cargo will be banned from UK ports or seized if already under UK jurisdiction; and whether Russia has been excluded from the London insurance market such that existing cover for Russian items has been cancelled as of 14 March 2022.

James Cleverly: All Russian aircraft have been banned from British airspace and Russian shipping has been blocked from entering UK ports. It is a criminal offence for Russian aircraft to operate in UK airspace, including the export of aviation and space-related goods and technology to Russia and the provision of insurance to the Russian aviation and space industries. UK Government ministers have signed legislation banning all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports since 15:00 on 1 March 2022.

Latin America: Marriage

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in Latin America on the legalisation of same-sex marriage in their respective country.

Vicky Ford: The UK is a champion for the human rights of LGBT+ people. Ministers and our overseas missions work closely with partners to champion LGBT+ equality and inclusion, adopting new laws and policies that better protect LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination.In December 2021, the UK celebrated adoption of same-sex marriage legislation in Chile - the eighth country in Latin America to support equal marriage. We look forward to welcoming representatives from Latin America to the Safe To Be Me conference on LGBT+ equality in June.

Non-governmental Organisations: Finance

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she expects to announce a future round of applications for impact grant funding.

Vicky Ford: The FCDO is currently finalising its spending plans for the next three financial years, including plans for future central funding for civil society.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

Vicky Ford: Yes. The new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for government. In the first phase, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU) is working with other departments (including BEIS, DEFRA and FCDO) to create an awareness level training resource for all civil servants. This will be piloted from April 2022. In the next phases, GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific functions and professions, and will signpost the training and other resources on net zero which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by government Departments.

Yoon Suk-yeol

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policy of the election of Yoon Suk-yeol as President of the Republic Korea on (a) stability on the Korean peninsula and (b) British-Korean economic, military and political engagement.

Amanda Milling: The UK and the Republic of Korea are close friends. We are both free and open societies with vibrant democracies and a shared commitment to upholding global security, democratic principles and the rule of law. We have an ever-growing partnership spanning political, economic, military and scientific fields. The UK remains committed to peace on the Korean peninsula and the Foreign Secretary looks forward to working together with President Elect Yoon Suk-Yeol and his administration to cement our ties as we work together internationally to uphold our shared values.

Ministry of Defence

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the Humanitarian Assistance Task Force of 1,000 soldiers has not been deployed to assist in Ukraine and the surrounding region as of 14 March 2022.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the long-term military posture and stability of Asia and the Pacific.

James Heappey: Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine has profound global implications, including for the Asia Pacific Region. The flagrant violation of international law and of the UN Charter it represents resonate around the world. That is why 141 nations, including many in the Asia Pacific Region, condemned Russia's action in the United Nations General Assembly.We believe that most countries in the Asia Pacific region are deeply concerned by Russia's actions, and its implications for broader stability including in their region. It is too early to draw any conclusions on their military posture. We are continuing with the Defence contribution to the Government's Indo-Pacific Tilt including through our deployment of the Littoral Response Group (South), our relationships with Kenya and Oman projecting into the Western Indian Ocean, our growing partnerships with India, Japan and Republic of Korea, and our deployments of the Offshore Patrol Vessels HMS SPEY and HMS TAMAR.

Ukraine: Radicalism

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he has made an assessment of whether the Azov regiment in Ukraine’s armed forces is a neo-Nazi or other far-right force.

James Heappey: We understand that the Azov battalion has an ultra-nationalist background, with founding members espousing white nationalist and ultra-nationalist views, as well as endorsing some Anti-Semitic views. Since being made a part of the Ukrainian National Guard in 2014, the battalion has made some efforts to de-politicise. All founding members left the battalion and formed a political party. We also understand that the Azov Battalion currently employs Jewish members.

Ukraine: Antitank Missiles

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any members of Ukraine's Azov Movement have access to UK-supplied anti-tank weapons.

James Heappey: As anti-tank weapons have been issued to the National Guard, it is highly likely that members of the Azov battalion have had access to UK supplied anti-tank weapons.The National Guard usually comes under the authority of the Interior Ministry; however, under the current circumstances of Martial Law, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence are likely to have operational command of the National Guard.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the (a) role and (b) political outlook of the Azov regiment within Ukraine’s armed forces.

James Heappey: The current role of the Azov Battalion is as a component of the Ukrainian National Guard, as part of its Eastern Operational Territorial Command; its primary area of responsibility being Mariupol.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any units relating to the Azov Movement are under the command of Ukraine’s armed forces.

James Heappey: Yes. The Azov Battalion usually falls under the authority of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry as part of the overarching Eastern Operational-Territorial Command of the Ukrainian National Guard; however, under the current circumstances of Martial Law, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence are likely to have operational command of the National Guard.

RAF College Cranwell: Water Supply

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the reason for the hot water having failed again at RAFC Cranwell.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the (a) reason for the heating having failed in the Sargeant's Mess at RAFC Cranwell and (b) timetable for resolving that situation.

Leo Docherty: There have been two occasions where heating and hot water have failed in the Sergeants' Mess. On 8 March, a generator supporting the boiler tripped, and, on the evening of Friday 11 March, there was a further report of no heating and hot water; the cause was determined as a further tripping of the electricity supply. In both cases, the systems were reset, and the heating and hot water was restored. Since the answers my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Jeremy Quin) gave to you on 5 January and 25 January 2022 to Questions 93929 and 108478 respectively I can confirm that the Ministry of Defence is not aware of any recent failures to the hot water system at College Hall RAFC Cranwell.

Shipping: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many bids his Department received regarding the purchase of a Special Purpose Vessel for Navy X.

Jeremy Quin: Following a tender process that resulted in several expressions of interest from the market, two tenders were submitted within the pricing envelope that delivered the technical requirement detailed for the Royal Navy.

Ajax Vehicles: Testing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Millbrook Test Report on AJAX.

Jeremy Quin: We do not plan to publish the report once trials have completed. The analysis of the report, which includes detailed information about the performance of military equipment could be potentially operationally sensitive However it will help inform the way ahead on Ajax and I will continue to keep the House updated on the outcome of our analysis and the implications of the programme.

Falkland Islands: Argentina

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made a recent strategic assessment of the threat posed by Argentina towards the Falkland Islands in the context of recent statements by the Minister of Argentina.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence undertakes regular assessments of possible threats to the Falkland Islands to ensure that an appropriate defensive capability is maintained. Our forces in the South Atlantic are at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the Islands.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there are plans to recover unused UK-supplied weapons from Ukraine after the conflict.

James Heappey: No. All defensive weapons supplied by the UK to Ukraine have been at the direct request of the Ukrainian Government. Not only were UK-supplied weapons granted in kind, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are likely to want to keep any un-used weapons from the current conflict to increase their military capability to defend their future democracy and sovereignty.

Ministry of Defence: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) are committed to developing and maintaining subject-knowledge on Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues through continual personal and professional development. The MOD are active participants of cross-Government Learning & Development training led by the Cabinet Office and the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU). We welcome the new Government Curriculum and the inclusion of modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for Government. To further strengthen knowledge building and skills, MoD has corporate memberships of professional bodies. We are working to maximise regular access to a wide range of accredited defence, environment and sustainability training courses at awareness through to expert levels. This commitment to understanding and uptake of crucial skills will assist staff and the armed forces in this fast moving and rapidly changing area.

Ministry of Defence: Sustainable Development

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a senior manager in his Department has been given the portfolio for leading on departmental sustainability.

Jeremy Quin: In line with Government policy and the aims of the Greening Government Commitments, the Ministry of Defence is committed to addressing and adapting to the effects of climate change and in mitigating the impacts of our activities. In March 2021 I published the Ministry of Defence Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach (publishing.service.gov.uk) which shows the scale of ambition to address these challenges and the practical actions that are and need to be taken. Further information on the progress the Department is making can be found in the MOD's Annual Report which is published on Gov.uk. A new Climate Change and Sustainability (CC&S) Directorate was also established in 2021 to catalyse the ambition and actions within the Strategic Approach. It is led by a dedicated Director of Climate Change and Sustainability working through new governance and supported by a non-executive Director focused on the CC&S agenda. The Directorate continues to build the Department's programme to meet our long-term ambitions and harness the value of sustainability through policy and process change.

COP26

Climate Change: China

Jim Shannon: To ask the President of COP26, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on tackling climate change.

Alok Sharma: I have regular discussions with China’s Special Climate Envoy, Xie Zhenhua. We last spoke on the 16 February about the need for all countries to deliver on the commitments in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Carbon Emissions

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department is taking to measure its carbon footprint.

Mr Alister Jack: Greenhouse gas emissions are published annually in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Reports.

Scotland Office: Carbon Emissions

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has published a plan setting out the steps it plans to take to transition to net zero emissions.

Mr Alister Jack: The Scotland Office is committed to reducing emissions and energy consumption wherever possible, as part of the UK’s transition to net zero. The Government’s current targets to make progress on reducing emissions have been published, as part of the Greening Government Commitments.The Government published the Net Zero Strategy in October 2021, which sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050.

Scotland Office: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

Mr Alister Jack: The new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for government. In the first phase, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU) is working with other Departments (including BEIS, DEFRA and FCDO) to create an awareness level training resource for all civil servants. This will be piloted from April 2022. In the next phases, GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific Functions and Professions, and will signpost the training and other resources on Net Zero, which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by government Departments.

Scotland Office: Sustainable Development

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether a senior official in his Department has responsibility for departmental sustainability.

Mr Alister Jack: The Government is committed to making its estate and operations more sustainable and resilient through the Greening Government Commitments. We report on these commitments every quarter. In the Scotland Office, this is led by senior officials.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Russia

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will take steps to encourage UK-based companies to end trade with Russia.

Mike Freer: We have announced the strongest set of economic sanctions ever imposed against a major economy, which will help cripple Putin’s war machine. The UK has targeted the political elite, introduced powers to cut off the Russian banking sector from the UK, and announced restrictive trade measures to minimise the funding Putin has available to wage his illegal war. We have welcomed commitments made by firms who have announced their intention to reduce or sell holdings in Russia. We urge firms to think carefully about their investments in Russia.

Fossil Fuels: Russia

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to help accelerate the ambition of other countries to divest in Russian fossil fuels; and if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits and (b) prospects of the UK being a major future exporter of technology to help achieve that ambition.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment has he made of the potential (a) merits and (b) prospects of the UK increasing future exports of renewable energy technologies and manufacturing to countries pursing divestment from Russian fossil fuel supplies.

Mike Freer: No specific analysis of opportunities emerging from divestment from Russian fossil fuels has been undertaken to date. However, such opportunities would form part of the Department’s wider, regular assessments of international opportunities and their applicability to UK exporters.

Overseas Trade: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if her Department will assess all UK trade in (a) goods and (b) services with (i) individuals, (ii) organisations and (iii) businesses based in Russia which could create any revenue for the Russian government.

Mike Freer: In lockstep with our allies, we have announced the strongest set of economic sanctions ever imposed against a major economy, which will help cripple Putin’s war machine. The UK has targeted the political elite, cut off Russian banks from the UK, and introduced restrictive trade measures. As part of this work, we have published trade sanction impact assessments, which are available on GOV.UK: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/195/impacts.

Metals and Minerals: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of stopping the trade of Russian precious rare metals and minerals, including (a) platinum and (b) palladium from Russian sources, into the UK, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mike Freer: The Department for International Trade is working with the whole of government to assess the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the supply of critical materials to the UK.Our measures are designed to maximise pressure on Putin and the elites who support his illegal invasion of Ukraine while minimising the impact on the UK, but my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been clear that we must do whatever possible to protect European security.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the licence requirements for a member of the public to send protective body armour equipment to Ukraine.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: HM Government publishes a consolidated list of strategic military and dual-use items that require export authorisation on GOV.UK and body armour meeting certain technical characteristics can be found listed under control entries 1A005 and ML13 (d).

Women and Equalities

Equality Act 2010

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made in identifying funding to extend the time limits for Equality Act claims from three to six months; and if he will make a statement.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government continues to look closely at extending the time limit for bringing Equality Act 2010 based cases to employment tribunal.This decision, however, must take account of wider impacts across the justice system. We recognise that the pandemic has put additional pressure on the entire courts and tribunal service, particularly the employment tribunal, and that restoring its existing levels of service needs to be the priority before additional loading is added.While the time limit for bringing an Equality Act based claim to employment tribunal remains at three months, tribunals have the discretion to provide extensions where they consider it ‘just and equitable’ to do so.

Department for Transport

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the value of ticket sales processed through train station ticket offices in each of the last five years.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is Government policy to permanently close train station ticket offices.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate has he made of the number of staff members that work at ticket offices in train stations.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of ticket office closures on rail passengers.

Wendy Morton: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail outlines the changes and modernisation needed for fares, ticketing and retailing to simplify and improve the passenger experience.We want to see customer-facing staff on railways and like those whose jobs are about customer service, staff at stations may need to change what they do or how they do it to ensure that passengers get the services they most want and need. Staff will be able to provide a more personal touch in future, which can be crucial for those who need additional support at stations and those who cannot or do not want to use contactless or mobile tickets. The rail industry is in the lead to make sure this can happen.There is a process for train operators to propose any changes to the opening hours of ticket offices or for closing ticket offices which is set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement. This regulates what train operators do in terms of fares ticketing and retailing across the network. Part of this process requires train operators to put notices at the station advising passengers of any proposals and what any changes could mean for them. If they have any objections these can be raised via the passenger bodies (Transport Focus and London Travel Watch) for consideration.We are not the employer of ticket office staff and therefore would not go into detail of other organisations’ employees.

Electric Scooters: Regulation

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to amend regulations in respect of privately owned electric powered scooters.

Trudy Harrison: The Department for Transport is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts and has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme. A full set of findings on rental e-scooters from this evaluation will be included in the final report due in late spring 2022. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.

Road Traffic: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will review his Department's estimates of projected traffic growth on the strategic network to take account of changed behaviours as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Trudy Harrison: The Department regularly reviews the evidence on the drivers of travel demand and sources of uncertainty and will publish an update to the road traffic forecasts 2018 in due course. The next set of National Road Traffic Projections (NRTP) will provide a strategic view of how demand for road travel may evolve in the future and explore uncertainties associated with future demand including the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The Department collects numerous sets of data that help inform its view on travel demand, which will inform NRTP, including:National Travel Survey National Travel Survey - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Road Traffic Statistics Road traffic statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Transport use during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic Transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)National Travel Attitudes Study National Travel Attitudes Study: Wave 5 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The National Travel Attitudes Study asks questions about changes in travel behaviours, such as levels working from home before and during the pandemic. This longitudinal survey data is a key element of the Department’s evidence on changing travel habits during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as people’s intentions going forward.

Roads: Construction

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to reject any proposed new road scheme where the benefit-cost ratio is less than two.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that the production of a provisional environmental impact assessment report is undertaken before any decision is made to identify a preferred route for a new road.

Trudy Harrison: On the Strategic Road Network, a Preferred Route Announcement (PRA) is made at the end of National Highway’s Project Control Framework (PCF) Stage 2 (Options Selection).Prior to the PRA, National Highways undertake an environmental assessment of all new road projects and produce the following documents.Environmental Scoping Report - considers the information required for reaching a (reasoned) conclusion on the likely significant effects of a project on the environment.Habitats Regulations Assessment - assessment and reporting of the implications of highway projects on European sites.Environmental Assessment Report – Reports on the assessment of environmental effects associated with each option considered, including the preferred route.Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening - The identification of likely significant effects on the environment and consequential need for an Environmental Impact Assessment.Decisions on which transport schemes are taken forward are made not solely on the benefit to cost ratio, but on the basis of the five case model outlined in the Department Transport’s Business Case in line with the principles of the Treasury Green Book.

Bicycles: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve cycle safety in Oxfordshire.

Trudy Harrison: The Government is investing £2 billion over five years to deliver safer and better cycling infrastructure in communities across England. I would be very willing to meet and talk about the work of Active Travel England.

Railways: Passengers

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage passenger growth and support passenger capacity on the Oxford to Birmingham railway routes.

Wendy Morton: We welcome that passenger numbers are increasing on CrossCountry routes. It will be for the operator to undertake appropriate, cost effective marketing to promote and encourage passengers to travel on their services.

Cross Country Trains

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his Department plans to restore Cross Country Trains to two services per hour between Oxford and Birmingham.

Wendy Morton: We would expect Crosscountry to propose the reintroduction of services in future where they are likely to be revenue generative and can be delivered reliably as appropriate for the level of passenger demand.

Driving Licences: Applications

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the data his Department holds on the size of the backlog of applications to the DVLA; and what steps he is taking to reduce that backlog.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what system is in place to organise and trace applications submitted to the DVLA; and if he will make a statement.

Trudy Harrison: On 9 March 2022, the total number of paper applications awaiting processing at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was 898,673. This is a significant reduction from the peak of 1.6 million in September 2021. It is important to note that the DVLA normally has around 400,000 paper applications awaiting processing at any one time as the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail and thousands of new applications each day. The quickest and easiest way to transact with the DVLA is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days. However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. These measures are having a positive impact and customers should continue to see an improving picture in terms of waiting times for paper applications. Applications where the driver has a medical condition that must be investigated before a licence can be issued will take longer. Paper applications sent to the DVLA are organised using more than 30 post codes to differentiate between different types of application. These are kept separate and are processed in the order in which they are received. This aids the DVLA in trying to locate an application if necessary.

Electric Scooters: Trains

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of facilities to store e-scooters on trains.

Trudy Harrison: The carriage of e-scooters on the National Rail network is a matter for individual train companies. It is the operators’ responsibility to make this assessment.

Electric Scooters: Safety

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the risk of spontaneous combustion of e-scooter batteries.

Trudy Harrison: We require e-scooters taking part in the rental trials to meet the following description with regard to e-scooter battery safety: “The vehicle and its components of the electrical system including the battery, shall be so designed, constructed and fitted as to minimise and protect against the risk of electrolyte leakage, fire, explosion, electric shock and to ensure electromagnetic compatibility.” We have been liaising with operators and local authorities involved in the trials to ensure that appropriate safety measures are put in place to mitigate against any risk. We are also coordinating with a number of government departments, including the Office for Product Safety and Standards at BEIS, to ensure that battery safety is considered as part of future regulations for both private and rental e-scooters entering the UK market.

Motor Vehicles: Safety

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) safety of the use of bright LED car headlights and (b) adequacy of vehicle safety standards regulation on that matter.

Trudy Harrison: The Department monitors contributory factors to road collisions in GB through data recorded by police officers attending the scene. LED headlights are increasingly common in modern vehicles. Despite this, between 2010 and 2020, dazzle from headlights is recorded as a contributory factor in less than half a percent of collisions and, overall, there is no discernible trend or increase over this period. Prior to registration, vehicle manufacturers must supply evidence that their vehicles comply with international road vehicle approval regulations. Provisions for vehicle headlamps define maximum and minimum intensity, light pattern and position on the vehicle. Domestic legislation also prohibits the use of headlamps that cause undue dazzle or discomfort for other road users. However, due to variations in road geometry there will be unavoidable instances where oncoming vehicles can cause momentary dazzle or discomfort and the Highway Code advises drivers to slow down or stop if necessary. The Department’s officials continue to support international activity reviewing the relevant vehicle lighting standards.

Highway Code: Accidents

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on traffic accidents, injuries and deaths of updates to the Highway Code made on 29 January 2022.

Trudy Harrison: The updates made on 29 January 2022 are an extension to the existing advice and guidance. The amendments are not expected to pose any major challenges as they simply reinforce the good behaviours that we would expect every road user to adhere to. The changes should lead to improvements in road safety and drivers should already be following the rules of the road.

Department for Transport: Carbon Emissions

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has published a plan setting out the steps it plans to take to transition to net zero emissions.

Trudy Harrison: In July 2021 we published the Transport Decarbonisation Plan – the first such Plan in the world – which sets the transport sector on the path to net zero by 2050.

Bus Services: Finance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment of (a) reductions to (i) bus services and (ii) night bus services over the last 10 years and (b) any proposals for further changes to bus services and funding.

Trudy Harrison: Local Transport Authorities are responsible for complying with the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Department’s role includes enabling and encouraging LTAs to provide good bus services for everyone. An equality impact assessment of reductions to bus services and to night bus services over the last 10 years has not been undertaken by the Department. The equalities impacts of the National Bus Strategy were assessed as part of its development.

Shipping: Russia

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent (a) vessels and (b) cargo of Russian origin from docking in UK ports.

Robert Courts: The Government has already taken extensive steps to sanction Russia, including by prohibiting Russian-linked ships docking at UK ports.I am working with my international counterparts to ensure more countries follow this type of action.

Travel Restrictions: Coronavirus

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to remove covid-19 restrictions on international travel.

Robert Courts: From 4am on Friday 18 March, COVID-19 border restrictions will be lifted for all passengers entering the UK. This means that passengers arriving in the UK, regardless of their vaccination status, will no longer be required to complete a Passenger Locator Form or take any COVID-19 travel tests. That means we are the first major economy to get back to the kind of restriction-free travel we all enjoyed before COVID.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to enable home charging points for electric vehicles for people who park in the street and do not have driveways or garages.

Trudy Harrison: Government has committed £2.5 billion since 2020 to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, with funding to offset their higher upfront cost and to accelerate the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure. Government is supporting those without access to off street parking through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). To date, more than 135 local authorities have applied to the scheme and this year, £20 million is available to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit. In 2022/23, we will launch our new Local EV Infrastructure Fund (LEVI). This will facilitate the rollout of larger-scale chargepoint infrastructure projects across England for local areas. Details will be announced in due course. In addition, Government’s forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK.

Boats: River Thames

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of levels of carbon emissions from pleasure boats on the River Thames; and what plans he has to reduce those emissions.

Robert Courts: DfT has not produced specific estimates of carbon emissions from pleasure boats on the River Thames. The levels of carbon emissions from domestic shipping, including pleasure boats, are published by BEIS as part of the final estimates of UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions.The Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) published last year, set out our commitments to decarbonise shipping emissions, including from pleasure boats. This includes including consultations on the establishment of indicative targets from 2030 to 2050, and a potential phase out date for non-zero domestic emission vessels in the UK.Alongside the TDP we launched a £23m Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, match funding innovative projects in zero emission shipping technologies. Building on the success of this initiative, this month we have announced £206 million of R&D investment in zero emission technologies, as part of the establishment of a UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to publish his review of the implementation of the Clean Maritime Plan.

Robert Courts: Launched in 2019, the Clean Maritime Plan is the environmental route map of the Maritime 2050 Strategy. We intend to publish a refresh of the Clean Maritime Plan in 2023. This will identify clear milestones and actions to spark the transition to net zero shipping technologies, as we place the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future.

Trains: Fires

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has published for wheelchair users and train staff on evacuating a train in the event of a fire.

Wendy Morton: The Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) helps design standards and guidance for the UK railway to support the safe evacuation of the public and rail staff from trains in the event of a fire, including persons with disabilities and reduced mobility. The procedures for evacuating trains safely reflect Rail Industry Standards (RIS) that have been developed over time, building on best-practice and the views of professional experts. They cover the actions that need to be taken by train drivers, station guards and signallers in the event of a fire, including relevant fire safety training. These standards are also supported by National Technical Rules (NTRs) and National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs) covering the design, operation and maintenance of trains and equipment, which continue to be reviewed over time.

Aviation: Crew

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will conduct a review of colour vision regulations for commercial pilots in the UK.

Robert Courts: The DfT and the CAA have previously considered colour vision policy and are of the view that the current policy is fit for purpose. The current tests used to establish colour vision thresholds is scientifically validated and allows for significantly more colour deficient pilots to fly compared to historical tests. The UK regime is also more liberal compared to some European states. The government remains committed to improving UK aviation policy and ensuring the aviation sector remains diverse and inclusive. However, all our decisions are evidence-based and there is currently no evidence indicating a change in policy in this area is necessary.

Department for Education

Adoption: Self-employed

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish an equalities impact assessment on statutory adoption pay, including how it relates to the decision not to extend an equivalent of the maternity allowance to self-employed adoptive parents.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help ensure geographical equity of support for self-employed adopters.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of paragraph 9.38 of the Statutory Guidance on Adoption 2013 on the (a) number and (b) proportion of successful applications made by self-employed adopters for financial support equivalent to the Maternity Allowance from local authorities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2022 to Question 110445 on Adoption, what plans his Department has to attract self-employed adopters.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2022 to Question 110445 on Adoption, what assessment he has made of the impact of the policy not to offer self-employed adopters an equivalent to the statutory maternity allowance on (a) their ability to adopt and (b) the number of prospective adopters recruited.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Statutory Guidance on Adoption published in July 2013.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of paragraph 9.38 of the Statutory Guidance on Adoption in providing support to adoptive parents who are ineligible to receive Statutory Adoption Pay as a result of low earnings, length of service or being self-employed.

Will Quince: The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do. Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child. The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues. The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

Educational Institutions: Air Conditioning

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a geographical breakdown by (a) local authority and (b) Parliamentary constituency of his Department's statistics published on 3 March 2022 on delivery of air cleaning units to education settings.

Mr Robin Walker: The department has published data on the number of air cleaning units delivered to education providers. This can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/delivery-of-air-cleaning-units.The attached table shows a geographical breakdown of air cleaning unit deliveries by local authority. The department does not hold the data at a Parliamentary constituency level.The department has also published data on the number of education providers that applied and were eligible for air cleaning units. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co2-monitor-survey-and-applications-for-air-cleaning-units.Air cleaning units were allocated based on need and applications had to meet strict eligibility criteria, available to view here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12cU_I5q0v1_my97yPMpb87RsSL5d5lpj. In response to the number of applications received, we have made up to 9,000 air cleaning units available to ensure that all eligible applications are fulfilled. The majority of providers have now received their air cleaning units. Final deliveries of applications received in January will be made by half-term.138169_table (xls, 60.5KB)

Children in Care

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure that all looked after children aged 16 and 17 live in accommodation that has carers and provides care.

Will Quince: This government firmly believes that every child in the care system deserves to live in a high quality home that meets their needs and keeps them safe. The vast majority of looked after children up to the age of 18 live with foster carers or in a children’s home. These placements are subject to robust regulatory checks and balances by Ofsted, to ensure that they meet the needs of children they accommodate and keep them safe.When local authorities make a placement decision, they are responsible for ensuring the placement is suitable. This includes ensuring staff who will be looking after the child at the placement are appropriately trained and have the skills needed to meet the needs of the child and to keep them safe. It is not in accordance with the law to place a looked after child in a placement that does not meet their needs and keep them safe, and it is unacceptable for any child or young person to be placed in such a placement.The government is clear that supported accommodation for young people, also referred to as unregulated provision, can be the right option for some older children. However, the government is equally clear that the support and accommodation provided in this provision must always be of high quality, and that the young person must be ready for the level of independence it promotes. That is why, in December 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the government will invest over £142 million across the next three financial years to fund the introduction of new mandatory national standards, Ofsted registration, and inspection for these providers.This means that all placements accommodating looked after children and care leavers up to age 18 will now be regulated by Ofsted, will ensure that local authorities can be confident when making placements in this provision, and strengthen our ability to take action against poor providers.Further information on the government’s plans to reform this vital area is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transformational-investment-in-childrens-social-care-placements.

English Language: Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help support people arriving from Ukraine to receive English for Speakers of Other Languages courses.

Michelle Donelan: The government plans to announce shortly how people arriving from Ukraine aged 19 or over will be able to access adult education, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses.ESOL is funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to 9 Mayoral Combined Authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the AEB in their local areas, including what is provided on ESOL. The Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB to meet the needs of their communities, including their ESOL needs.

Qualifications: Assessments

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure equitable assessments of qualifications for students.

Mr Robin Walker: The department reformed and strengthened GCSEs and A levels from 2011 to be in line with the highest performing education systems. The department consulted widely with schools, colleges, universities and employers, both on the principles for reform and the detail of the content of individual subjects, to help them prepare for their introduction. There are no current plans for wholesale GCSE and A level reform.The government believes exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance as they provide a standardised means of assessment, with all students being examined on the same basic level of difficulty and understanding. Exams provide an even playing field with everyone being assessed on the same thing in the same amount of time. Following the difficulties experienced with awarding grades without exams in 2020 and 2021, the government is fully committed to exams going ahead this summer.The independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, advised that non-exam assessment (NEA) should only be used when it is the only valid way to assess essential elements of the subject. For example, NEA is still required in modern foreign languages (the speaking assessment) and in art and design.Fair and meaningful grading is core to confidence in qualifications. Ofqual are responsible for maintaining qualification standards and doing so in a way that ensures public confidence.Ofqual’s rules will require exam boards to use a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence so that grade boundaries are set in a way that is as fair as possible for all students, across all subjects and exam boards. Grading is monitored by the experts every step of the way and Ofqual will review results for every subject before they are issued.Ofqual and the department published joint consultations outlining detailed proposals for changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in academic year 2021-22. The consultation decision document was published on 30 September 2021 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2022/proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2022.The proposals set out in the consultation received a high degree of support, and therefore we are proceeding with the package of adaptations we set out. The package of measures includes four elements:a choice of topics or content on which students will be assessed in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and geographyin all other GCSE and A/AS level subjects which have exams, advance information about the focus of the content of examschanges to the assessment requirements for practical assessments in some subjects to take account of any public health measures that may be in place and relieve pressure on teaching timeallowing students to have access to support materials in the exam room in GCSE mathematics, combined science, and physicsFurther information published by exam boards to support revision was published on 7 February 2022 and is available here: https://www.jcq.org.uk/summer-2022-arrangements/advance-information/.The government and Ofqual are confident that the package of measures we have put in place will help ensure fairness.

Music: Education

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the remit is of the expert panel working on the refreshed national plan for music education.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date music hubs will be informed of their funding settlement for the 2022-23 financial year.

Mr Robin Walker: The refreshed National Plan for Music Education will be co-published by the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) later this year. It will shape the future of music education in this country so that more children and young people have access to a good quality music education.The government appointed an expert panel last summer, which includes experts representing schools, music education hubs, and the music industry. The panel’s remit is to ensure the refreshed plan supports the government’s aims for all young people to have access to a high-quality music education, and opportunities to explore music as far as their interest and talents allow. The government also published the consultation response on music education to inform the refreshed plan. The department is grateful for the panel’s time and expertise.The department has announced that it will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three financial years, through its music, arts and heritage programmes, including music hubs, working closely with DCMS, Arts Council England and others.The department’s partner organisations, including the Arts Council as the Music Education Hub fundholder, will be updated shortly to confirm funding allocations for the 2022/23 financial year, following the outcome of the department’s business planning.

Schools: Assessments

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools and colleges will be required to collect further evidence of students' work in the event that exams are cancelled in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Robin Walker: The government is fully committed to exams going ahead this summer and does not expect that to change except in the unlikely case of a public health emergency that prevents students being able physically to sit exams. However, it is right that contingency arrangements are in place. For GCSEs, AS and A levels, Ofqual guidance published in November 2021 asked schools and colleges to collect evidence of their students’ performance covering the breadth of content usually seen in exams and assessment objectives. Once schools and colleges have this evidence, they are not obliged to collect any more. They should take a proportionate approach and, where sufficient evidence has already been collected, no school or college is obliged to continue collecting evidence into the summer term.

Broadband: Optical Fibres

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help develop open online tests and skills training that enables people to demonstrate they have the right skills needed to join the UK full-fibre workforce.

Alex Burghart: Through the National Careers Service, we already have the online ‘Skills Health Check’, which enables people to explore the skills they have.The department also funds a wide range of digital education and training provision, which will support people in a range of digital careers including fibre and broadband roles. This includes:A digital entitlement for adults with no or low digital skills to undertake new improved digital qualifications, up to Level 1, free of charge.New Essential Digital Skills qualifications at entry level and level 1 and reforms to digital Functional Skills Qualifications, based on new national standards which set out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work.A range of high-quality apprenticeships in the digital sector including the Level 4 Network Engineer and the Level 6 Data Scientist apprenticeships.Skills Bootcamps in a range of skills areas, including technical skills such as engineering and broadband installation.A number of digital qualifications included in the Free Courses for Jobs offer.Specific Digital T Levels that support progression to digital occupations and relevant digital skills built into every T Level qualification.

Independent Assessment Commission

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the final report of the Independent Assessment Commission, published on 2 February 2022.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Assessment Commission, published on 2 February 2022.

Mr Robin Walker: Exams are the best and fairest form of assessing what students know and can do, and ensure young people leave school or college prepared for the workplace and higher study. They provide an even playing field, with everyone being assessed on the same content in the same amount of time.The final report of the Independent Assessment Commission, published on 2 February 2022, rightly sets out the role qualifications play in supporting students to thrive in the next stage of their lives, be that in college, employment or university.The department reformed GCSEs and A levels from 2011 to be in line with the highest performing education systems. The department consulted widely with schools, colleges, universities, and employers, both on the principles for reform and the detail of the content of individual subjects, to help them prepare for their introduction. At GCSE, the department wanted to ensure that young people have access to qualifications that set expectations matching those in the highest performing countries. At A level, the department wanted the qualifications to be robust and rigorous and keep pace with university and employer demands.As we help children and young people recover from the effects of the pandemic, the department is clear that the qualifications system requires stability. Therefore, we have no plans for further wholesale reform of GCSEs and A levels.

Falkland Islands: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands, what steps his Department is taking to educate students on the importance of the anniversary of that event.

Mr Robin Walker: The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world, this can include the Falklands War. Schools and teachers themselves can determine which examples, topics and resources to use to stimulate and challenge pupils and reflect key points in history. They can also use specific historical anniversaries in their teaching.Additionally, there is scope within the citizenship curriculum to highlight relevant key historical events. Through citizenship, which is part of the national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4, pupils learn about the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom and its relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world. The subject helps to prepare pupils to play a full and active part in society and teaches them how to explore political and social issues critically, to weigh up evidence, to debate and to make reasoned arguments. As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects, so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs and background of their pupils.Additionally, schools will often mark anniversaries and events in time outside lessons, such as in assemblies.

Primary Education: Coronavirus

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on primary education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the appropriateness of the (a) phonics screening check in year 1, (b) autumn term phonics screening check in year 2, (c) key stage 1 SATs in year 2, (d) multiplication tables check in year 4 and (e) key stage 2 SATs in year 6 as a form of assessment.

Mr Robin Walker: The department is taking forward a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021/22 academic year. The assessments will help parents, schools, and the department to understand more clearly the impact of the pandemic on pupils, and how this varies between particular groups of pupils (for example, disadvantaged pupils), schools, and local authority areas.At a local level, the data will provide vital information to parents about their child’s attainment, support transition to secondary schools, and identify where additional support is best targeted to individuals. At a national level, the data will help inform policy decisions about support for schools, enable analysis to underpin education recovery initiatives and understand their effectiveness, and to track system progress as we emerge from the pandemic.

Further Education: Greater London

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has provided to further education colleges in London in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Michelle Donelan: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocates funding to further education colleges throughout England. These colleges can either have multiple sites or be part of a group, both in and out of London, therefore it is not possible to identify specific London colleges.From academic year 2019/20, part of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) was devolved so funding for London AEB learners will be through the Greater London Authority.For national ESFA funded providers, we publish provider allocations here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations#published-allocations and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/19-funding-allocations#published-allocations.The values we publish relate directly to 16 to 19 and 19+ allocations, so will exclude funding from any other sources.

Primary Education: Assessments

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of a profession-led review of the assessment system used in primary schools.

Mr Robin Walker: In 2017, the government carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views that informed policy on the current primary assessment system.The department is now reaching the end of the programme of reform to the current primary assessment system that arose as a result. As such, the department has no current plans to undertake further major reform.

Further Education: Qualifications

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which of the post-16 level 2 and below qualifications are in scope for removal for the consultation which launched on 2 March 2022, by title and level.

Alex Burghart: The consultation focuses on the groups of post-16 level 2, level 1, and entry level qualifications we propose should be funded in future, rather than individual qualifications. Subject to the consultation, where qualifications do not meet future criteria for these qualification groups, we propose that they have funding approval removed. No decisions have been made about individual qualifications or what is in scope for removal, as we are still consulting and we have not yet developed the specific criteria that will be used to make that assessment.

Further Education

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) in order that funds, initiatives and guidance from DHSC take into account that some specialist further educational collages are also care providers.

Alex Burghart: Specialist further education (FE) colleges that offer residential adult social care provision are required to register with the Care Quality Commission. Therefore, they are covered by funding and guidance for the adult social care sector issued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).The department works closely with DHSC, where issues arise that affect the delivery of educational and care provision in specialist FE.

Further Education: Staff

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of staff vacancy rates in the specialist further education sector; what assessment he has made of the impact of vacancy rates on FE colleges' ability to (i) meet the needs of current students and (ii) admit new students; and what steps his Department is taking to support specialist further education providers to meet staffing requirements.

Alex Burghart: Local authorities are best placed to understand the capacity of their local further education (FE) provision to accommodate additional children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).The department does not currently collect data centrally on available capacity in high needs provision. However, it is continuing to work with local authorities to better understand future demand for SEND provision, including in FE settings, as it considers how it can best support the sector.It is essential that all learners in the FE sector, including those with complex special needs, experience the highest quality teaching. The department recognises that teacher recruitment and retention can be challenging for providers. To support this, the government is investing £50 million in programmes designed to improve the supply and quality of FE teachers, in the current financial year.In January 2022, we launched a recruitment campaign to raise awareness of the opportunities to teach in FE with a wider audience. For those choosing to specialise in SEND teaching in the FE sector, the department has also announced that it will offer tax-free training bursaries worth £15,000 each for the further academic year of 2022/23. This will help to boost the supply of teachers with specialist training to support learners with SEND in the FE sector.The department is also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provisions for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a transformational investment in new high needs provision. It will help deliver tens of thousands of new high needs places, including in post-16 and FE settings.

Apprentices: Hospitality Industry

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2022 to Question 137257, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of apprenticeships in the hospitality sector.

Alex Burghart: Apprenticeships provide people of all ages with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start, or progress in, an exciting career in the hospitality sector. Employers in the hospitality sector can access a range of high-quality apprenticeship standards to meet their skills needs, including the level 2 Commis Chef apprenticeship and the level 4 Hospitality Manager apprenticeship.We are committed to supporting more employers and apprentices to benefit from the high-quality training that an apprenticeship offers, and we are increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024-25 financial year. This funding will support apprenticeships in non-levy employers, often small and medium-sized enterprises, where the government will continue to pay 95% of training costs. We also continue to provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged between 16 and 18 years old, helping to support younger people into apprenticeships.To encourage more young people to consider apprenticeships, we are promoting apprenticeships in schools and colleges through our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge programme. This free service provides resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships and has reached over 2 million students across England since its introduction in the 2016/17 academic year. In February, during National Apprenticeship Week, I wrote to all year 11, 12 and 13 pupils and their parents to tell them about the great opportunities offered through apprenticeships.We are also promoting apprenticeships through our new ‘Get the Jump’ and ‘Skills for Life’ campaigns which are raising awareness and understanding of the full range of education and training choices available to young people and adults.

Training

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government has taken to help ensure that people undergoing vocational training have sufficient access to childcare.

Alex Burghart: The Care to Learn (C2L) scheme is available to help young parents, defined as those aged under 20, to continue in education after the birth of a child. The scheme provides funding towards childcare whilst the young parent is engaged in a study programme and is not able to provide care for their child. C2L can also help with travel costs involved in taking the child to the childcare provider. During the 2020/2021 academic year, payments totalling over £5 million were made through the scheme.Learner Support funds childcare for students aged 19 and over in further education. Learning providers decide how much a student receives, depending on their scheme and the individual circumstances of the student.30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare are entitlements for working parents of three and four-year-olds. These aim to help working parents with the costs of childcare so they are able to take up paid work or work additional hours. The Childcare Bill policy statement, published in December 2015, is clear that students are not eligible for 30 hours free childcare. However, parents who undertake paid work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible for additional hours.To qualify for 30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare, students do not have to physically work 16 hours a week. However, they do need to earn the equivalent of a weekly minimum of 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. Currently, this is just over £7,400 a year.Parents undertaking vocational training remain entitled to the universal 15 hour free entitlement for three and four-year-olds. They may also be eligible for 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds. More information on the eligibility criteria can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-2-year-olds.Further information on the full range of childcare support available can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. Constituents can also access the government’s childcare calculator, available here: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator.

Further Education: Migrant Workers

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide more detailed guidance for colleges on how to recruit staff from overseas.

Alex Burghart: It is very important that the department continues to support providers to recruit new teachers. We already provide detailed guidance for colleges on how to recruit from overseas, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recruit-further-education-fe-teachers-from-overseas.The guidance sets out a range of useful information for both providers and applicants, such as step-by-step UK visa sponsorship for employers, the requirements needed for a Skilled Worker visa, and information on safeguarding checks.Additional support is available online. This includes checking an applicant’s right to work in advance, and a document checking tool. The department also provides a list of other visa options for applicants if the provider is not a visa sponsor.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Ammonia

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce (a) herd sizes and (b) fertiliser spreading in the UK to reduce ammonia emissions.

Jo Churchill: We set out our plans to reduce ammonia emissions, including from the agricultural sector, in the Clean Air Strategy published in 2019.

Honey: Fraud

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent honey fraud to ensure consumer confidence in honey production.

Victoria Prentis: The Government considers that it is essential all UK consumers have complete trust in the food they eat, and we recognise the importance of origin labelling for certain foods, including Honey. Food labelling should be accurate and not misleading in any way. In England all honey must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 which set out detailed specifications which honey must comply with in terms of its composition, labelling and quality criteria. Country of origin labelling is mandatory on all honey but special circumstances apply to blended honey where the composition may change depending on availability. Upon the UK’s Exit from the EU the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 were amended to remove EU centric labelling for blended honey. There is now an option to describe blended honey as a “blend of honeys from more than one country”. We continue to keep the rules under review to ensure they meet the needs of consumers and industry alike. Local Authorities routinely continue to check and enforce honey rules throughout the UK. As honey is a product of animal origin it is also subject to additional mandatory checks at import. Defra, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Government Chemist have been working together to understand the latest scientific evidence on honey testing to ensure all honey can be fairly and accurately tested for contents and origin.

Plastics: Pollution

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) work with international counterparts on tackling plastic pollution and (b) implement the Deposit Return Scheme.

Jo Churchill: Plastic pollution is a global challenge, and the UK engages across multilateral forums and organisations to raise global ambition and drive action to minimise plastic pollution from both land and sea-based sources, including the G7 and G20, the OSPAR Convention, the World Trade Organisation and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Through the £500 million Blue Planet Fund the UK is funding developing countries to protect the marine environment and reduce poverty, including the Global Plastic Action Partnership to address plastic pollution. Through the UK and Vanuatu-led Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance, 34 Commonwealth nations have now committed to taking action on plastic pollution in the ocean. The UK co-sponsored the ambitious proposal that led to the resolution adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022 to develop a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, and the UK has joined the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution to drive a comprehensive and effective treaty. A second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was published in 2021 and is now closed. The Government is analysing the responses to that consultation, with a view to publishing a Government response soon.

Water Charges

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will implement a single social tariff for water and sewerage services.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is currently working with the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), Ofwat, charities and water companies to explore the recommendations from CCW's Affordability Review to further support people who are struggling to pay their water bills.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, whether it is his Department's policy that farmed ducks should have access to an open body of water.

Victoria Prentis: Defra has published a statutory duck welfare code which encourages high standards of husbandry for the keeping and breeding of farmed ducks. We recognise the welfare benefit of providing open water for ducks. However, in a commercial setting the provision of open bathing water for ducks is a difficult issue, as a balance needs to be struck between the welfare needs of the birds and the risks to duck health, hygiene and food safety if ducks are given unlimited access to open bathing water, which can become easily contaminated. Defra's code recommends that ducks should always have easy access to fresh water and that consideration should be given to the provision of water troughs, which are deep enough to allow the ducks to get their heads completely under water.

Pigs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a compensation scheme for pig farmers who are unable to sell their animals to slaughter due to a lack of butchers.

Victoria Prentis: We believe that targeting our financial support on incentivising processors to slaughter more pigs thereby reducing the backlog and the animal welfare impacts of pigs backed upon farm is the most effective way of supporting farmers at this time. While a hardship fund or compensation scheme would provide farmers with a financial payment, there would be challenges in ensuring any scheme would reduce the animal welfare impact of those pigs currently backed up on farm, provide value for money and was able to target those in most need.

Pets: Theft

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to extend the dog abduction offence to all kept animals.

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the likelihood of the implementation of the dog abduction offence leading to an increase in the theft of other kept animals.

Victoria Prentis: In response to concerns about a perceived increase in pet theft during covid restrictions, the Government set up the Pet Theft Taskforce to investigate. The Taskforce's recommendations included the creation of a new 'pet abduction' offence to recognise that pets are not mere items of property and to recognise the potential impact on their welfare when they are taken by strangers. The Taskforce gathered, researched and commissioned work to build a clear evidence base of the issue and worked with police, law enforcement, and experts to formulate recommendations. Any unintended consequences of introducing a new offence focused on the taking of pets were considered during the Taskforce. The Taskforce also recommended improving the evidence base on pet theft by ensuring cases are recorded in a consistent manner and readily identifiable within police force information management systems, and Defra is currently working with Home Office and Ministry of Justice to implement this recommendation. The offence as currently drafted and debated at the Commons Committee stage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill focuses on dogs, with enabling powers. The inclusion of the enabling powers means that the Secretary of State will be able to extend the offence to other species of companion animal in the future by making regulations. Any regulations would be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. This means that both the House of Commons and the House of Lords would need to approve such an extension. The Government listened closely to views expressed on this issue during Commons Committee stage, in particular whether cats should also be included with dogs at the outset, and the Government is currently considering this issue carefully.

Food: Consumption

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of plant-based food consumption in the UK; and what assessment he has made of the way in which plant-based food consumption can support his Department’s Outcome Delivery Plan.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of plant-based foods as an alternative to meat-based products in the context of the forthcoming Food Strategy White Paper.

Victoria Prentis: The Government gathers and coordinates data and statistics to monitor food purchasing and eating habits to understand consumption trends. This includes the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, designed to collect detailed, quantitative information on the food consumption, nutrient intake and nutritional status of the general population in the UK and the Food Family Survey with detailed statistical information on purchased quantities, expenditure and nutrient intakes by UK households.The Government's advice on consumption and diet is set out in the Eatwell Guide - which provides advice on how to obtain a balance of healthier and more sustainable food and includes recommendations such as to have a diet that includes more fibre, fruit and vegetables.

Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service: Construction

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Right hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, what steps the Sponsor Body is taking to help ensure that the construction of the Holocaust Memorial Centre is conducted sustainably.

Mark Tami: The scope of the Restoration and Renewal Programme does not include the construction of the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. The UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre is a matter for the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.Representatives from the R&R Programme have held preliminary discussions with representatives working on the Memorial and Learning Centre to discuss potential efficiencies in using the River Thames for both construction projects. We intend to continue these discussions once the planning process for the Memorial and Learning Centre is concluded.The R&R Programme is currently in the design phase and, under the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019, no restoration works other than preparatory works (such as initial design works and surveys) can be carried out at this juncture.

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Right hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, what assessment the Sponsor Body has made of the potential impact of the Restoration and Renewal of the Parliamentary Estate on levels of air pollution.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Right hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, what steps the Sponsor body is taking to help mitigate road pollution on and around the Parliamentary estate during restoration and renewal works.

Mark Tami: The Restoration and Renewal Programme is committed to sustainability and to meeting its environmental obligations. Under the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal Act) 2019, the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to protect the environment and to contribute to achieiving sustainable development in exercising its functions.The Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority had been working on developing a detailed and costed plan for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. This would have included an environmental assessment on both the construction phase and operations of the restored buildings, including considering the impact on air pollution and steps to mitigate road traffic pollution. The work on developing a detailed and costed plan is currently paused following the decisions made by the two House Commissions in February.Despite the broader uncertainty about the future of the programme, the Delivery Authority is planning to conduct an Air Quality Survey to set a site-specific air quality baseline. This will allow site-specific assessments to be completed in the future. The Delivery Authority is also continuing to review opportunities to make use of the River Thames during construction to reduce environmental and traffic impacts on the surrounding area and road networks.

Palace of Westminster: Construction

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Right hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, what assessment the Sponsor Body has made of the potential merits of transporting construction materials and debris via the River Thames during the (a) construction of the Holocaust Memorial Centre and (b) restoration and renewal of the parliamentary estate.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Right hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, what discussions the Sponsor Body has had with (a) experts and (b) industry leaders in (i) haulage and (ii) construction to ensure that the River Thames is effectively utilised during the restoration and renewal of the parliamentary estate.

Mark Tami: The Restoration and Renewal Programme is committed to sustainability and to meeting its environmental obligations. Under the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019, the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to protect the environment and to contribute to achieving sustainable development in exercising its functions.The Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority had been working on developing a detailed and costed plan for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. As part of this, the Delivery Authority was reviewing opportunities to make use of the River Thames during construction to reduce environmental and traffic impacts on the surrounding area and road networks. This included preliminary discussions with some of the relevant stakeholders, such as the Port of Tilbury and Tideway.The work on developing a detailed and costed plan is currently paused following the decisions made by the two House Commissions in February.The scope of the Restoration and Renewal Programme does not include the construction of the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre and the Sponsor Body has therefore not made an assessment of the potential merits of transporting construction materials and debris via the River Thames during the construction of the Memorial and Learning Centre. The UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre is a matter for the Secretary of State of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Representatives from the Programme have held preliminary discussions with representatives working on the Memorial and Learning Centre to discuss potential efficiencies in using the River Thames for both construction projects. We intend to continue these discussions once the planning process for the Memorial and Learning Centre is concluded.

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service: Solicitors

Steve Reed: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential cost to Secretary of State for Justice's Department of the Crown Prosecution Service converting a broader background of lawyers into solicitors via the Prosecutors Pathway Programme.

Alex Chalk: The Prosecutor Pathway Programme provides a unique career and development route for our people into the legal profession and ultimately that of a qualified criminal lawyer trained and suitable for deployment in the role of Crown Prosecutor. This sponsored programme seeks to promote development opportunity for those who might otherwise have been unable to consider a career in law due to socio-economic, cultural, or early life opportunities and assure an inclusive and diverse profession for the future. The Crown Prosecution Service has not made any assessment of the potential cost to the Secretary of State for Justice’s Department through its use of the Prosecutor Pathway Programme.

Attorney General: Sustainable Development

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Attorney General, whether a senior manager in her Department has been given the portfolio for leading on departmental sustainability.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department has published a plan setting out the steps it plans to take to transition to net zero emissions.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Attorney General, what steps her Department is taking to measure its carbon footprint.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the impact of increased homeworking during the covid-19 outbreak on her Department’s carbon footprint.

Alex Chalk: The Government is committed to making its estate and operations more sustainable and resilient, through the Greening Government Commitments. These commitments are reported on every quarter. As a very small department, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have bespoke plans to transition to Net Zero, however, we do engage with the Government Property Agency (GPA), who are responsible for the AGO estate in 102 Petty France, on any improvements to the estate. The AGO does not hold any information on its carbon footprint and therefore has not carried out any assessment on the impact of home working.

Ministry of Justice

Legal Profession: Equality

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help increase diversity in the legal profession.

James Cartlidge: The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of Government. Statutory responsibility for encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board (LSB). In their State of Legal Services Report 2020, the LSB emphasised the need for the sector to work together to ensure that the profession reflects the diversity of the communities it serves at all levels and placed an expectation on regulators to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of their diversity initiatives and share learning points. The Government’s response to the recommendations of the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, published on 15 March 2022, said that we will explore what can be done to make duty solicitor work easier for those with caring responsibilities to improve the gender balance among duty solicitors. We will also ask the proposed Advisory Board to investigate the disparities in income based on gender and race.

Judiciary: Equality

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase diversity among the judiciary in England and Wales.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Justice, as a member of the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF), works closely with the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission, the Legal Services Board and the legal professions to take actions to increase judicial diversity. In the Judicial Diversity Forum’s update to its plan and priorities for 2021/22, published on 20 December 2021 (https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/JDF-2022-action-plan.pdf), the MoJ committed to the following as part of the JDF’s actions to support a diversity of professionals to see a judicial career as an attractive option and to ensure they are supported and encouraged to apply to the judiciary: Continuing to fund the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme, to support potential candidates from under-represented groups to the judiciary.Continuing to fund the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) led Targeted Outreach Programme, to support a diversity of candidates towards more senior judicial roles.Exploring fuller opportunities for Solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives to gain court experience, including advocacy, to support preparation for the judiciary.Working with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), and other legal professional bodies, to explore the necessary steps for increasing CILEX’s eligibility for a wider range of judicial roles.Supporting the publication of data across the legal professions, judicial appointments and judiciary through the annual Diversity of the Judiciary report. The MoJ has also invested over £1 million to support the recruitment of new and diverse magistrates in order to increase the diversity of the magistracy. A new digitised recruitment process alongside an inclusive marketing campaign was launched in January 2022 to target underrepresented groups and ensure the magistracy is reflective of the communities it serves.

Legal Aid Scheme

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the level of need for (a) all civil legal aid services and (b) education-related legal aid services as of 14 March 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) keeps market capacity under constant review, ensuring access across England and Wales and taking immediate action where required.Wherever you are in England and Wales, legal advice is available through the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) telephone service, which provides specialist telephone advice in education as well as on other civil and family matters within the scope of legal aid.There is currently at least one provider in every procurement area for the education category, contracted to deliver services via face-to-face advice or remote advice according to client preference.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of civil legal aid capacity on (a) individuals who are entitled to legal aid but cannot access a legal aid provider and (b) the voluntary sector in England; and if he will make a statement.

James Cartlidge: The Legal Aid Agency keeps market capacity under constant review, ensuring access across England and Wales and takes immediate action where required. Wherever you are in England and Wales, legal advice is available through the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) telephone service. We recognise the vital role not-for-profit organisations play in ensuring people can access advice and information and through 2020 and 2021 we provided a total of £7.4m to the not-for-profit sector.

Domestic Abuse: Victims

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government provides support financial support to victims of domestic abuse who (a) cannot access shared equity assets and (b) are not eligible for legal aid.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether financial support is available for victims of domestic abuse who do not qualify for legal aid to obtain court representation; and if he will make a statement.

James Cartlidge: On 15 March the MoJ published a consultation on proposed changes to the means test for civil legal aid, to ensure access to justice. Under the plans, domestic abuse victims would benefit from a more generous means test, including significant increases to income and capital thresholds. In addition, when applying for legal aid for a dispute about an asset, that asset will not be included in the means assessment, making it fairer for domestic abuse victims contesting a property who cannot use their equity to fund the legal proceedings. These changes will significantly widen access to legal aid for victims and will make any contributions more affordable.More broadly, in 2020 we launched a new £3m grant to enhance support for litigants in person with civil, family and tribunals problems, which is working with more than 50 not-for-profit organisations across England and Wales. This is in addition to the close to £9m the MoJ has invested in supporting litigants in person since 2015. Across 2020/21 and 2021/22 the MoJ also provided £1.6m funding to the Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors (FLOWS) project, run by RCJ Advice, which provides free legal support to victims of domestic abuse who wish to apply for an emergency protective order from the courts.

Courts: Trials

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the use of pre-recorded evidence on the efficiency of court cases.

James Cartlidge: Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 gives victims the opportunity to have their cross-examination pre-recorded, without having to take part in a live trial, subject to judicial discretion.In 2016, the Government published the results of a process evaluation of the pilot of Section 28 for vulnerable witnesses, conducted with criminal justice practitioners who had used the provision. This autumn, we aim to publish the results of a similar evaluation of the provision for victims of sexual and modern slavery.We are looking at data from the pilot courts and working with partners to roll out s.28 for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts.

Criminal Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much criminal legal aid has been spent on accelerated measures applicable to the (a) Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme and (b) Litigators' Graduated Fee Scheme from the date those measures came into force to December 2021.

James Cartlidge: Up to the end of September 2021, which is the latest period that official statistics exist for, £10 million was spent on accelerated measure in total. The accelerated measures are split across three funding schemes: the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) and the Litigator’s Graduated Fee Scheme (LGFS), which provide remuneration to advocates and litigators in the Crown Court, and the crime lower funding scheme which provides remuneration to advocates and litigators in the magistrates’ court. In total £2.8 million has been spent on accelerated measures applicable to the AGFS and £0.4 million has been spent on accelerated measures applicable to the LGFS. The remaining spend has been under the crime lower scheme. The actual spend to date under the accelerated measures is lower than expected at this point. This is due to a number of factors, including the impact of COVID-19 on the court system, which has slowed the rate at which new cases are disposed of by the courts, meaning that the build-up of expenditure on these measures has been generally slower than anticipated. Additionally, there have been lower than expected numbers of providers making claims where they are eligible to do so under certain accelerated items such as the fixed fee for consideration of unused material. In response to this, the Legal Aid Agency has increased its communications regarding claiming accelerated items and has added prompts to the digital payment system to encourage providers to claim the fixed fee in eligible cases. We expect the rate of payments to increase in the coming months.

Prison and Probation Service: Staff

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent equality analysis his Department has made of the HMPPS staff fitness test.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison staff who failed the prison staff fitness test on the (a) first, (b) second and (c) third attempt during the most recent period for which figures are available were (i) male and (ii) female.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison staff who took the fitness test during the most recent period for which figures are available were (a) male, and (b) female.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of data on female prison employees failing the prison staff fitness test.

Tom Pursglove: There are many factors which determine a person’s ability to pass a fitness test which are often not determined by age, sex or gender alone. Prison officers need to be capable of performing specific tasks to a certain standard to ensure their safety and the safety of everyone else, including prisoners and work colleagues. No adjustment to the fitness test is made based on age, sex or gender because they are not the determining factor on passing the test and fitness levels between employees of either sex or gender at all ages can vary. Adjustments are considered and may be offered on the advice of an occupational health practitioner. From the restart of fitness testing on 26/07/2021 to 28/02/2022 there have been a total of 502 test fails: 1st test fails2nd test fails3rd test failsMale202100Female265250From the restart of fitness testing on 26/07/2021 to 28/02/2022 there have been a total of 14,488 fitness tests undertaken: Number of tests%Male11,17077Female3,31823Staff who do not meet the annual fitness test standard will be provided with advice and support by a fitness assessor on achieving and maintaining the required fitness level to pass their fitness test. The new HMPPS policy allows employees suffering from any specific side effects related to the menopause an opportunity to postpone the test for a limited period whilst the side effects subside. The deferred test would need to be completed within a 3-6-month period of the originally scheduled test and the employee would be expected to take the test at the next opportunity. If they are still unable to take the test due to significant medical symptoms, a referral to Occupational Health (OH) should be made to advise on adjustments if appropriate and a GP referral may be required. HMPPS is commissioning further specialist medical advice to ensure the Equality Assessment for Fitness Testing remains valid, and to consider what further support can be offered to menopausal staff in general and specifically in relation to the fitness test.

Courts: Digital Technology

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on the roll out of the Common Platform in England.

James Cartlidge: Common Platform is currently live in 101 courts, equating to 44% of all criminal courts, and has managed over 100,000 criminal cases since rollout began. HMCTS is currently discussing the next phase of delivering the system with operational leaders and the senior judiciary.

Offenders: Alcoholic Drinks

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 133193, on Offenders: Alcoholic Drinks, what plans his Department has to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of the sobriety tagging scheme on (a) levels of alcohol consumption and (b) the wellbeing of offenders.

Kit Malthouse: Prior to the introduction of the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR), as required by the legislation, the department supported two pilots testing the option for community orders and suspended sentence orders. Both pilots undertook to evaluate the requirement and publish their findings, which can be found at the following links:https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final_impact_report_100521.pdf.https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final_process_performance_y2_report_final.pdf.https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/annex_1_-_aamr_early_impact_report_210417.pdf.https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final.pdf.https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/content/uploads/2020/01/Evaluation-of-the-AAMR-tagging-pilot.pdf. These findings touched on a number of areas including compliance and wellbeing and informed the introduction of AAMR. I am pleased to report that compliance with alcohol bans has remained at over 97% which is in line with the pilots. We have published statistics regarding take up and compliance with AAMR and will continue to do so, these can be found at the following links:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1060084/Alcohol_Monitoring_Statistics.pdf.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1042107/Ad_Hoc_Alcohol_Monitoring_Statistics.pdf.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1028971/AAMR_publication_AdHoc_release_Final.pdf. We are incorporating evaluation into all electronic monitoring expansion projects, in order to build the evidence base for most effective use, and this will include alcohol monitoring on licence.

Powers of Attorney

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the delays experienced by people seeking to gain powers of attorney.

Tom Pursglove: OPG have had staff in the office throughout the COVID pandemic, but the registration of Powers of Attorney is a paper-based process and, as a consequence of the pandemic impacting on the number of staff who can be present in the office, it has taken longer for LPAs to be registered. OPG have allocated extra staff to process Powers of Attorney and have used overtime and an additional night shift in order to process LPAs as quickly as possible. OPG hope to see a reduction in processing times over the coming months.

Rape: Trials

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many rape trials were abandoned from their start dates (a) due to a lack of (i) prosecution advocates or (ii) defence advocates and (c) for other reasons in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: Data collated centrally by MOJ does not include a count of ‘abandoned’ trials. Rather, trials are recorded as ‘ineffective’, meaning, that does not go ahead on the scheduled trial date and a further listing is required. This can be due to action or inaction by one or more of the prosecution, the defence or the court. There has been an increase in ineffective trials during the pandemic, partly driven by defendants being ill due to Covid. We continue to take action to tackle the impact the pandemic has had on our courts and tribunals system. We invested a quarter of a billion pounds to support recovery in the last financial year (20/21). In the recent Spending Review, more than £1 billion has been allocated to boost capacity and accelerate recovery from the pandemic in courts and tribunals. This increased funding will enable us to hear more cases and reduce backlogs. We removed the limit on the number of days the Crown Court can sit in the 21/22 financial year and as a result of this, in the next financial year we expect to get through 20% more Crown Court cases than we did pre-Covid (116,700 in 22/23 compared to 97,000 in 19/20). We have also been asked to provide data on how many trials for offences of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault have been abandoned from their start dates and are awaiting a new start date as of 17 February 2022. However, the total number of trials for rape, sexual assault and indecent assault would include those where a new trial date is not required (e.g. a plea has changed to guilty), so we are not able to accurately answer that question.We have provided data on ineffective trial reasons where the sole reason is no advocate being available for one or both sides in the attached document. The data for each calendar year includes the figures as of 31st December of that year. For 2021, we provide data up to the 30th September which is the latest data available. This data shows that before the pandemic, the numbers of ineffective trials were falling significantly across all the offence types listed. 125045_55_table (xlsx, 19.2KB)Table (xlsx, 19.3KB)

Cabinet Office

Defibrillators

Henry Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to require all Government (a) buildings and (b) infrastructure to have a defibrillator.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Swansea East, on 10 March to Question PQ 131244.

Prime Minister: Lord Lebedev

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime minister last met Lord Ledebev of Hampton and Siberia.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the last time was that each Minister in his Department met Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia.

Michael Ellis: Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations, including with newspaper and other media proprietors, editors and senior executives, are published on a quarterly basis and made available on GOV.UK.

Russia: Electronic Warfare

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, (a) what assessment his Department made to the threat that Russian cyber-attacks poses to UK security and (b) what measures his Department has introduced to improve the UK's cyber-security capabilities.

Michael Ellis: As set out in the recently published National Cyber Strategy we will make sure that the UK continues to be a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power, and that we are able to protect and promote our interests in the rapidly evolving online world. We will build on the previous strategy as well as the work of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The NCSC engages directly with UK industry and the government, providing advice on actions to take in response to the cyber threats. We are not aware of any current specific threats to UK organisations in relation to events in and around Ukraine. In heightened periods of international tension, all organisations should be vigilant to the risk of cyber compromise and follow the NCSC’s guidance during such periods of heightened cyber risk. A core component of our National Cyber Strategy is to strengthen the cyber security of government and public services. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, launched in January 2022, will make sure that core government functions are resilient to cyber attacks. This work will be supported by an enhanced assurance regime to raise standards and a new Government Cyber Coordination Centre. The delivery of both the National and Government strategies is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years.

Blood: Contamination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether victims of the blood contamination scandal and their legal teams will have the opportunity to view the report into the framework for compensation for victims of the contaminated blood scandal on the same day as the Government.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS681, made on 15 March.

Supply Chain Advisory Group

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to publish the findings and recommendations from the Supply Chain Taskforce which concluded its report in January 2022.

Michael Ellis: In October 2021, the Prime Minister appointed Sir Dave Lewis as his Supply Chains Adviser. Sir Dave Lewis worked with the Cabinet Office Supply Chains Unit, across HM Government and with industry, meeting over 100 businesses from a range of sectors, to help resolve a number of acute and short term issues. Sir Dave Lewis advised the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on immediate improvements and long-termer changes to improve the UK’s supply chain resilience.There is no standalone report for publication; however, Sir Dave Lewis' final recommendations included:ensuring that government continues to build and embed departmental capability and collaboration on supply chains policy;that government builds stronger capability to horizon scan, spot risks early, and collate and utilise data to determine and solve supply chains data;working with industry to consider how best to optimise existing infrastructure capacity;improving cross-modal connectivity. HM Government has already put in place many measures to deal with the extraordinary set of circumstances brought on by the pandemic and the global economy rebounding. The resilience of the UK’s supply chains remains a key priority for this Government.

Defence: Civilians

Hywel Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans there are for civilian defence in the event of a nuclear attack.

Michael Ellis: Nuclear rhetoric from Russia is unhelpful. It is designed to deter and distract from its barbaric invasion of Ukraine. The Government continues to call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its assault on Ukraine and withdrawing its forces. The UK has well developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. The UK’s plans are risk-based and built on the principle of generic capabilities which are able to respond to a wide range of events, augmented by specific, niche capabilities, where needed and warranted by the risk. The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment. A public facing version is published in the form of the National Risk Register.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Infected Blood Inquiry report will be published (a) in full, and (b) directly after it is submitted to the Government.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS681, made on 15 March.

Internet: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the level of risk to UK citizens' data where that data is hosted on public cloud providers; and steps his Department takes to protect UK citizens' data on public cloud providers.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: It is the responsibility of every government department, including the Cabinet Office, to make a risk-based assessment of their use of cloud providers for the storage of government data up to “OFFICIAL” level, including UK citizens’ data. When considering a commercial provider, departments should take into account the cloud security principles developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/implementing-cloud-security-principles). The Cabinet Office carries out this risk assessment for each service it delivers to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to protect citizen data. Departments are required to follow the Technology Code of Practice when choosing a cloud provider, and this is assessed as part of the spend controls function. Departments must show that they have chosen the technology which provides the best value for money while meeting user needs. The Central Digital & Data Office carries out ongoing engagement with departments to review their decision-making about hosting. This includes qualitative analysis through user research as well as spend controls.

Prime Minister: Lord Udny-Lister

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Lord Udny-Lister currently advises the Prime Minister in any capacity.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Lord Udny-Lister has (a) been remunerated and (b) claimed expenses from the public purse since ceasing to be the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff.

Michael Ellis: Lord Udny-Lister is a member of the Conservative Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords. I refer the Hon. Member to the Register of Lords’ Interests.

House of Commons Commission

Members: Coronavirus

Owen Thompson: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many hon. Members have tested positive for covid-19 (a) in the week commencing 7 March 2022 and (b) since 5 January 2022.

Sir Charles Walker: Following the change in Government guidance, individuals are no longer required to inform their workplace should they test positive. The figures below represent the number of positive cases where an individual has shared their result. The figures provided are for all positive cases, as we do not hold the data per pass category.4 – 10 March: 4725 February – 3 March: 1118 – 24 February: 1511 – 17 February: 18The numbers below represent the number of validated case numbers, using data held by the UKHSA and the Parliamentary test and trace team.4 – 10 February: 6328 January – 3 February: 6121 – 27 January: 8914 – 20 January: 687 – 13 January: 6931 December – 6 January: 110